Current economic uncertainty is lessening the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond president Tom Barkin said.

Uncertainty can “dampen the impact” policy-makers can expect their policy measures to achieve, Barking said during the November 5 speech.

“In the presence of high uncertainty – nearly all of which is generated by forces extraneous to what the [Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)] does – we risk not getting the same ‘bang for the buck’,” he