Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Thursday that he changed his mind and would not support an interest rate hike in April. He noted that consumer spending seemed to slow down.
Atlanta Fed president downgraded his growth forecast for 2016, saying that the U.S. economy was likely to expand about 2.0% this year, down from his previous estimate of 2.5%.
He pointed out that the next interest rate hike would not depend on 2% inflation.
Lockhart is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.