Fed's Fisher Expects Real GDP Over 2.5% by End 2013

LONDON — Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said Monday that he expects real GDP growth in the US to be running over 2.5% by the end of 2013.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC TV, Fisher, who has long been concerned about the extent of the Fed's bond-buying program also questioned whether the central bank's actions have benefited the real economy.

"We've done a massive amount and the real question is — is it working?" Fisher said.

Fisher also said that he would like to see the Fed pare back its purchases of mortgage backed securities.

"We have to think about our fiduciary responsibility long-term so it's not purely the economy... In my opinion, this is me speaking, we need to slow the pace," he said.

The question is, and we have to hammer this out around the table, how much do we slow the pace... not stopping, I think that would be too violent for the market place," he said.

Fisher, who is a non-voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, also said that the Fed doesn't need to worry about inflation in the immediate future and should instead focus on driving down the unemployment rate.

"We don't have to worry about inflation in the immediate future because it's running at less than 2%... What I'm focused on is the movement toward putting people back to work and the efficacy of monetary policy in getting that done," he said.

Fisher also said that he was not alone on the FOMC in wanting to reduce the scale of the Fed's asset purchase program.

"I am not alone... there are predictable people like me, my colleagues from Philadelphia (Charles Plosser), my colleague from Richmond, Virginia (Jeffrey Lacker)," he said.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM BOND BUYER