Two Fed Officials Point to Possibility of April Rate Hike

Two Federal Reserve officials said interest-rate increases may be warranted as soon as the central bank’s meeting next month, citing solid readings on the U.S. economy despite headwinds from abroad.

“There is sufficient momentum evidenced by the economic data to justify a further step at one of the coming meetings, possibly as early as the meeting scheduled for end of April,” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Monday in Savannah, Georgia.

The Federal Open Market Committee next meets April 26-27. It held off from raising borrowing costs last week and halved projections for how many times it would hike rates this year from four times in December, citing the potential impact from weaker global growth on the U.S. economy.

Lockhart is a policy-centrist and doesn’t vote on the FOMC this year. His moderately upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy was shared by San Francisco Fed chief John Williams.

Bloomberg

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