Economics

Bullard Says Fed May Need to Raise Rates Above 2% to Curb Prices

  • Bullard says going beyond neutral would put downward pressure
  • The Fed official again urges 100 basis points in hikes by July
Fed's James Bullard Wants a Supersized Rate Hike
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said bringing down inflation may require the central bank to overshoot a neutral target interest rate, which he sees as about 2%.

“If you wanted to put downward pressure on inflation, you’d actually have to get to neutral -- go beyond neutral,” Bullard said at an event by hosted by Columbia University and SGH Macro Advisers in New York on Thursday. “And I think that’s a major concern of mine -- we’re not really in a position to do that right now, but we have to get in a position to do that” in case inflation doesn’t moderate as expected, he said.