Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in a speech on Monday that the Fed could raise its interest rate in April due to the strong U.S. economy.

"In my opinion, there is sufficient momentum evidenced by the economic data to justify a further step at one of the coming meetings, possibly as early as the meeting scheduled for end of April," he said.

Lockhart noted that the U.S. continued to expand moderately, adding that there were not enough changes since mid-December to justify the delay of further interest rate hikes.

He also said that the Fed's next interest rate decision will depend on the incoming economic data.

Lockhart is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.