'Strong' case for June rate hike, says Fed's Lacker

The president of the Richmond Federal Reserve, Jeffrey Lacker, said there was a “strong” case for the Fed to raise interest rates as early as June.

Lacker said he expected solid growth and increasing inflation to lead to interest rates to be hiked by mid-2015.

"I expect that, unless incoming economic reports diverge substantially from projections, the case for raising rates will remain strong at the June meeting," he said on Tuesday.

A voting member of the Fed policy committee and one of the most hawkish Fed presidents, Lacker has been advocating a mid-2015 raise in interest rates to since January and added he was looking beyond the unexpectedly weak data seen in recent weeks.