Fed 'close' to hiking rates, economy near normal: Lockhart
Source: Reuters
Economic conditions in the United States have largely returned to normal and a Federal Reserve decision to raise interest rates should come soon, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday.
"I think the point of 'liftoff' is close," Lockhart said in a speech to the Atlanta Press Club. "The economy has made great gains and is approaching an acceptable normal ... conditions are no longer extraordinary."
He later told journalists he was "very disposed" to a rate increase at the Fed's September policy meeting, but emphasized that the path of subsequent hikes should be gradual. He defined a gradual path as being more frequent than every other meeting.
His comments, coming on top of similar remarks by other Fed policymakers, signal the U.S. central bank's growing recognition that its full employment target may be close at hand, while progress on lifting inflation to a steady 2 percent rate remains elusive.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/10/us-usa-fed-lockhart-idUSKCN0QF1R620150810
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