Richmond Fed's Barkin tells WSJ that March rate hike is "conceivable"

A top US central bank official told the Wall Street Journal that an interest rate increase was "conceivable" at the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting.

In an interview with the WSJ on 7 January, the head of the Richmond Fed, Thomas Barkin, reportedly said that the economy was seeing "interim full employment", although the job market was as tight as it could be at the moment.

Barkin also indicated that he was watching for improvement in the labour force participation rate.

He also said that supply chains remained under pressure and might continue to be into 2023.

Upward inflation pressure however might abate late in 2022, he added.

Barkin was not a vote-wielding member of the Federal Open Market Committee in 2022.

According to the CME's Fed Watch tool, there was a 77.4% probability that the FOMC would raise the target range for the Fed funds rate to between 0,25-0,50% when it next met on 16 March.