Bostic expects Fed to lift rates in 2023 - WSJ

[March 24, 2021]  (Reuters) - Atlanta Federal Reserve president Raphael Bostic expects the U.S. central bank will be able to start lifting its interest rates in 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic participates in a panel discussion at the American Economic Association/Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) 2019 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Christopher Aluka Berry

In an interview with the newspaper, Bostic said the Fed would need to see a sustained period of "strong and robust" inflation for it to lift its rates.

"I just don't have a lot of certainty that we're going to see that very quickly," he was quoted as saying.

Bostic told the newspaper he expected the U.S. economy to grow 6% and inflation to overshoot the Fed's target this year.

Bostic added that there could still be some time before the Fed considers dialling back its asset purchases.

The U.S. central bank is buying about $120 billion in bonds a month, after a ramp up last spring to support market functioning after a large sell-off sparked by the coronavirus pandemic caused a liquidity freeze.

(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Gdansk; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Catherine Evans)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.