US Central Banker Misses Policy Meeting For New Baby

When the Federal Reserve held its policy meeting this week, one member was missing for the happiest of reasons: a new baby.

Neel Kashkari, who heads the Fed's Minneapolis branch, was due to attend the deliberations Wednesday and Thursday of the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), but San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly voted in his place.

"Neel and his wife welcomed a baby boy on Tuesday. He's on paternity leave," Minneapolis Fed bank spokeswoman Alyssa Augustine said in an email.

The FOMC, which meets eight times a year, is made up of the Fed board members and the presidents of five of the 12 Fed's regional banks who rotate onto the committee every year.

But each bank president has a designated alternate in case they cannot attend to cast their vote -- although it is a rare occurrence, the last time in 2018.