Fed's Lockhart: No rigid position on rate policy

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, said Monday that he will take a pragmatic approach to monetary policy this year.
"Now is not the time to lock into a rigid position," Lockhart said in a speech to the Rotary Club of Atlanta.
Lockhart will be a voting member of the Fed's interest-rate-setting committee in 2012.
Lockhart forecast "steady even if unspectacular" economic growth this year, in the range of 2.5% to 3.0%, along with inflation in the neighborhood of 2%.
This forecast "justifies some reluctance to change, in either direction," the Fed's accommodative policy," Lockhart said.
But the central bank should also keep examining "whether more can and should be done" given the high unemployment rate, he added.
 Europe is "the biggest wild card" for the coming year, Lockhart said.
But rising tensions in the Persian golf and the "jumpiness" of oil market prices also cannot be ignored, he said