Inflation to rise significantly once oil bottoms out, Fed's Lacker says

Consumer price inflation in the US will reach the central bank’s target in the “near-term”, a rate-setter with a well-known hawkish bias reportedly said on Wednesday.

However, he added a bit of a caveat, first the price of crude had to hit to bottom.

The president of the Federal Reserve bank of Richmond, Jeffrey Lacker, said in a speech that “after the price of oil bottoms out, I would expect to see headline inflation move significantly higher.”

He made his remarks in a speech delivered to the Chamber of Commerce in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Acting as a backdrop, as of 13:57 GMT front month West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading sharply lower, falling by 3.47% to $32.79 per barrel – near 12 year lows - on the NYMEX.