With the economy on “a satisfactory track,” liftoff should occur this year, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Friday.
“I continue to feel that cumulative progress is consistent with liftoff relatively soon,” he told a group in New York, according to prepared text released by the Fed. “In weighing the timing of a liftoff decision, I'm trying to keep the endgame in focus. For me, the endgame is to begin and sustain an orderly process of normalization when the time is right and when the balance of risks gives us confidence we will not be forced to reverse course. It's also vital, in my view, to keep attention mostly on the real side—the Main Street economy. Financial market gyrations should be influential in a decision only to the extent they could plausibly affect real activity through pretty clear and understood channels.”
He added, “I see a liftoff decision later this year at the October or December FOMC meetings as likely appropriate.”
But he noted “varied signals” from data and “more ambiguity” than a few weeks ago. “In my opinion, the situation calls for especially diligent monitoring of incoming data with particular attention to consumer activity,” Lockhart said.
