St. Louis Fed’s Bullard says rate increase this week was good ‘next step’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The quarter point rate increase approved by the Federal Reserve this week was “a good next step” in the fight against inflation, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Friday.

“We have a lot of inflation in the U.S. economy,” Bullard said in the first policymaker comments since the Fed’s latest meeting. “It was a good next step for the committee,” Bullard said, without indicating if he still feels even higher rates are appropriate.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Chris Reese)