Case For Rate Hike Will Continue To 'firm Up,' Fed's Lockhart Says

The case for a rate hike will "continue to firm up" and a move will soon be appropriate, said Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Fed, on Thursday. "I expect to see a subsiding of the risks that appropriately led, in my opinion, to a policy hold in September and October," Lockhart said in a speech prepared for delivery to a conference in Switzerland. But Lockhart was careful not to specifically call for a rate hike at the next policy meeting in December. The Atlanta Fed president, a voting member and a key moderate voice at the U.S. central bank, said small shifts in his forecast "could easily point to a longer period for a zero funds rate." Lockhart dismissed fears the Fed was already too late in its effort to control inflation. "I am not concerned that the Fed is behind the curve," he said.