Fed’s Mester Would Back March Rate Hike to Fight Inflation

Fed’s Mester Would Back March Rate Hike to Fight Inflation
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester poses during an interview on the sidelines of the American Economic Association’s annual meeting in San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 3, 2020. Ann Saphir/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

The Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates at least three times this year and begin running down its balance sheet to respond to a tight labor market and inflation that is persistently high and more broad-based, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Tuesday.

“If the economy in March looks like it does today and the outlook is similar ... then I would support moving the funds rate up at that meeting and starting to move back from some of the extraordinary accommodation we needed earlier in the pandemic,” Mester said during an interview with Bloomberg TV.