(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester says she supports front-loading interest rate increases, including some 50 basis-point moves this year, to curb the hottest inflation in four decades.
“I think we’re going to need to do some 50 basis point moves,” Mester said on a call with reporters Wednesday. “I don’t want to presuppose every meeting from here to July, but I do think we need to be more aggressive earlier rather than later.”
During a separate event Tuesday, Mester said she supports raising the federal funds rate to 2.5% by the end of 2022, with further increases next year. She also said that a 50 basis point hike at some meetings this year shouldn’t be off the table.
Mester’s comments come a week after Fed officials raised rates for the first time since 2018 and projected six more increases this year to 1.9%, rising to 2.8% by the end of 2023. Several of her colleagues including San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard have also come out in favor of more restrictive policy in order to cool price pressures.
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