Fed Lockhart Would Support Start of Tapering Next Month

A centrist U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Friday he would back a reduction in asset purchases by next month if data between now and then shows a “sustainable picture” for economic growth, and doesn’t suggest the economy will be knocked off course.

“I would be supportive in September as long as the data that comes in between now and then basically confirm the path we’re on,” Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on CNBC television.

“The key question is, do we have even at this moderate pace of growth, a sustainable picture, something that’s going to continue. Or is there risks that the economy gets knocked off its feet in some way,” he added.

Lockhart also said he expects 2-2.5 percent full-year GDP growth in 2013, with it picking up in the second half of the year, and an unemployment rate between 7.2-7.4 percent by the end of the year.

via Reuters

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza