Fed's Bostic says he favors balanced and fast approach to tapering

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Monday the U.S. economy is improving faster than expected, with the time when the Fed could start slowing its bond purchases nearing quickly and inflation already at a point that could satisfy one leg of a key test for the beginning of rate hikes. Bostic said he is eyeing the fourth quarter for the start of a bond-purchase taper but is open to an even sooner start if the job market keeps up its recent torrid pace of improvement. The Fed official, who has already penciled in late 2022 for the start of the rate hikes, pointed to the five-year annual average for the core personal consumption expenditures index, or core PCE inflation, which by his calculation reached 2% in May.