The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said this morning that he still expects the Federal Reserve Board to start raising interest rates before the end of the year.
“The economy remains on a satisfactory track, and, speaking for myself, I see a liftoff decision later this year at the October or December [Federal Open Market Committee] meetings as likely appropriate.”
Lockhart made the statements during a speech before a group of journalists in New York.
The speech comes a day after the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee were released, which indicated that the members of the committee were split when considering raising interest rates.
The Fed has kept its fed funds target rate – the rate that many institutions and organizations use to set their own interest rate benchmarks – at nearly 0 for more than six years.
