(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he would favor the central bank slowing its asset purchases with further near-term gains in U.S. employment.
“We are very close and I am hopeful that will happen soon,” Bostic said in a CNBC interview Friday. “My view would be let’s start the taper and let’s do it quickly. Let’s not have this linger.”
Bostic’s comments were similar on timing to his view expressed in early August, when he said he could see a move following another month or two of big gains in jobs. He joins three Fed presidents -- Kansas City’s Esther George, St. Louis’s James Bullard and Robert Kaplan of Dallas -- who urged an early tapering in interviews ahead of Friday’s virtual Jackson Hole conference.
Bostic said the Fed has met its goal needed to taper regarding inflation, and could meet the labor market side of the equation soon. The central bank has pledged to buy $80 billion in Treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities a month until the economy shows “substantial further progress” on inflation and employment as it recovers from Covid-19.
“On the employment side, we have made a lot of progress and I think we are on the road to that,” he said. “A lot will depend on what happens in the next couple of months. If we see numbers comparable to what we have seen at the beginning of the summer, I think in my view it will be definitely satisfying the conditions for making that substantial further progress.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has struck a more patient tone and will give his take on the outlook Friday in a virtual speech to get the day-long forum under way.