St.Louis Fed's Bullard says next move in US rates could be up or down

The US economy was wedged in a relatively slow growt dynamic with little inflation, but in any case the central bank's next move on interest rates may be either up or down, one of its highest-ranking officials said.

In an interview with broadcaster CNBC, the typically quite 'dovish' St.Louis Fed chief, James Bullard, said he would like to think there was no need for further rate hikes.

Indeed, commenting on the Federal Reserve's recent dovish tilt, he said: "I think it set us up for a very good couple of years here."

But he added: "But obviously we will react to data as it comes in. So if the economy performs better than expected or worse than expected going forward, we're willing to move in either direction.

"The feedback from tight labor markets to inflation is extremely weak right now."

Bullard was a vote-wielding member of the Federal Open Market Committee in 2019.