MNI BRIEF: Fed's Barkin -Need To Be Convinced Of Need For 50BP

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said Thursday that he would need to be convinced of the need for a larger 50 basis point interest rate hike in March.

"Am I open to it conceptually? Sure, I mean, there will be times where we'll need to do that, there have been times in the past when we have done it. Do I think there's a screaming need to do it right now? I'd have to be convinced on that," he said when asked about whether he is open to a 50 basis point rate hike at the March FOMC meeting.

Barkin, who is not a voting member of the FOMC this year, said today's CPI reading shows inflation is both broadening and more persistent. "I hope we can get rates back to pre-pandemic levels relatively quickly," he said in an online Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research event, emphasizing there is plenty of data to come before the FOMC's March meeting.