Fed's Barkin says pace of coming rate hikes depends on pace of inflation

The pace of coming interest rate hikes will depend on the pace of inflation, said Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin on Monday. “I’d like us to be in a better position — somewhere closer to neutral certainly than we are now. And I think the pace of that just depends on inflation,” Barkin said, in an interview with CNBC. Barkin indicated he was not in a rush, saying the Fed has a “good part of the year” to get closer to neutral. Inflation on the cost of goods is likely to come down as supply chain bottlenecks ease, Barkin said. Consequently, it will be key to watch if wage pressures boost service sector inflation. “Obviously demand is going to play a big part of that,” he said. Barkin dismissed concerns over the flattening of the yield curve. “There is just a lot of global money that trades at the longer-end of the yield curve, TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.781% and I have a hard time making much out of it, in that context,” he said.