The governor of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, Dennis Lockhart, said he was in favor of an increase in tapering, ie the reduction of the stimulus program (Quantitative easing), if the economy meets his expectations.
Discussions over the pace of tapering returned to the headlines on Friday as disappointing job creation numbers came out of the US.
After the reduction of the stimulus program decided by the Federal Reserve last December, however, Lockhart said he was in favor of “a further similar steps”, since the GDP is growing between +2,5 and +3%, a trend that the governor himself had foreseen for this year.
On the other hand, speaking at the Rotary Club of America, Lockhart also underlined that the labor market is not yet in good health, since an unemployment rate of 6,7% and inflation that is too low constitute a risk for the performance of the economy.
Lockhart until 2015 will not be a member with voting rights of the FOMC, the monetary committee of the US central bank. His words, however, contributed decisively to the negative trend of Wall Street during the last session: the Dow Jones lost 1,1%, the Nasdaq Composite 1,5% andS&P 500 1,3%.
