Fed’s Lockhart Says Rate Hike Could Come After Midyear

March 26, 2015 Share Print 0

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, a centrist, said Thursday he would increase interest rates midyear or even later—as the economy throws off “mixed signals” at the moment.

Economic growth in the first quarter looks “very soft,” he told CNBC—held back by the harsh winter weather in February and the fluctuations in oil prices. He did, however, say the rough patch looks “transitory.”

A forecast model from the Atlanta Fed suggested the economy was barely growing in the first quarter, following an unexpectedly steep 1.4 percent drop in durable goods orders in February.
Lockhart made his comments on “Squawk Box,” ahead of an appearance at a Detroit investment education conference. He’s a voting member this year on the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee policymaking group.
As for the recent selloff in stocks, it shows market sensibilities are fragile right now, he said.

via CNBC

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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.