Reuters
Fed’s Bullard calls for big hike in interest rates to fight inflation
(Reuters) -St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday that he has become “dramatically” more hawkish in light of the hottest inflation reading in nearly 40 years, and he now wants a full percentage point of interest rate hikes over the next three U.S. central bank policy meetings. Within minutes, Bullard’s view became the market’s view, with rate futures contracts now fully pricing an increase in the Fed’s target range for its policy rate to 1%-1.25% by the end of its policy meeting in June, with some bets on an even steeper rate hike path. “I’d like to see 100 basis points in the bag by July 1,” Bullard told Bloomberg News in an interview, after a U.S. government report showed inflation rose 7.5% in the 12 months through January.