Fed's Bullard wants pause on rate hikes: interviews

[August 24, 2018]  JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should stop raising interest rates now because the economy is showing no signs of inflation surging and is expected to slow next year after the effects of fiscal stimulus wear off, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks about the U.S. economy during an interview in New York February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

"If it was just me I'd stand pat where we are and I'd try to react to data as it comes in," Bullard told CNBC at an annual central bankers' conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "I just don't see much inflation pressure."

The Fed under Chair Jerome Powell has been raising rates and is expected to do so again when policymakers meet next month. Under the Fed's rotating voting system for Fed regional bank presidents Bullard does not have a vote this year, but he participates in rate-setting discussions.

Bullard told Bloomberg TV in a separate interview that the Fed should not challenge the flat yield curve by raising rates, which could lead to short-term borrowing costs rising above long rates, a signal of recession.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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