- Jeffrey Lacker, Richmond Fed President
Jeffrey Lacker, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, speaking at the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce's Spring Regional Forum on Tuesday, said that he expects the Fed to raise interest rates as soon as June of this year. He admitted that the strong case of June's hike should be broadly supported by solid economic growth and rising inflation. The latter indicator has been temporarily weakened by a sharp decline in oil prices; therefore, there is likely to be no significant long-term effect from that. Mr. Lacker has also added that lifting rates in the short-term is only possible, if future economic data shows no considerable divergence from expectations. Richmond Fed's head, who has a right to vote at FOMC meeting in 2015, is one of the most hawkish members of the Federal Open Market Committee, as he was calling for a June rate increase since the beginning of this year.
At the same time, consumer confidence in the US rose more than expected in March. The index, calculated by the Conference Board, advanced to 97 points this month, up from 96.4 in February. Economists, from their side, estimated a jump up to 96.6 points. The survey is based on responses from about 5,000 households across the country; therefore, this indicator in considered to be one of the leading for future consumer spending, which accounts for a majority of the US economic activity.
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