The Federal Reserve's guidance that it expects to keep interest rates near zero until mid-2015, even if the economy strengthens, is inconsistent with the central bank's goal to keep inflation low and stable, said Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker on Friday, explaining his dissent from the Fed's latest policy statement. Lacker has dissented at all seven Fed meetings this year. His comments were posted early Friday on the Richmond Fed's website at the end of a "blackout period" where Fed officials typically don't comment on monetary policy close to formal meetings. Lacker said he would support the Fed explaining the "economic conditions" under which rate hikes would be needed, but called specific calendar dates a "highly imperfect way of doing so." The Fed has said it is considering using numerical targets to explain when it will exit from its ultra-easy policy, instead of the calendar dates it has been using over the past year. In his statement, Lacker also repeated his opposition to the Fed's new stimulus program, colloquially known as QE3, because the plan, $40 billion per-month of purchases of mortgage-backed securities, risks higher inflation without offering certain help to the economy.
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