Fed minutes offered zero sign of dovishness - and higher interest rates are a 'silent killer' to US economic growth, Bleakley CIO says

• Minutes from the Fed suggested more interest-rate hikes are coming – and that's a bad for the US, Bleakley's CIO said.
• "This is a silent killer, in my opinion, to economic growth," Peter Boockvar said.

Historically high interest rates are a "silent killer" to the economy, and minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting have dashed hopes of an end to its policy tightening, according to Bleakley Financial's CIO.

Policymakers expect more rate increases, which may come at a slower pace, the minutes showed.

"Anyone looking through the minutes to find any hint of dovishness didn't really find it," Boockvar told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.

"It seems like the Fed is at least intent on going one more time. I say one more time, because I think this is one more time too much and I find it hard to believe that they're going to go past this because of the restrictive nature of where we are today," he added.

The central bank has already raised interest rates by 500 basis points since March 2022, from near-zero levels to upward of 5%, in a bid to cool high inflation. Its efforts have had some degree of success, with the annual rate of consumer-price increases falling to 4% in May from levels above 9% last summer.

However, the effects of the aggressive rate increases have weighed heavily on the US economy, with key sectors including the banking and commercial real estate coming under increased stress.

"This is a silent killer, in my opinion, to economic growth that we don't see headline-nature wise but on a cumulative perspective, it's happening over the next couple quarters, over the next years if rates stay at this level for a while," Boockvar said.