(Reuters) – St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard on Monday said he expects the Fed to raise interest rates twice in 2022 after it wraps up its bond-buying taper mid-year, though he said if needed the Fed could end the taper in the first quarter.
“If inflation is more persistent than we are saying right now, then I think we may have to take a little sooner action in order to keep inflation under control,” Bullard said in an interview on Fox Business Network. “We’ve done a lot to move the policy in a more hawkish direction,” he added, noting that the Fed has begun its taper earlier, and plans to proceed with it faster, than had been thought even six months ago.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir)
