Fed's Bostic: Reasonable to trim bond-buying program beginning in October

It would be reasonable to start reducing asset purchases beginning in October if job gains in the US stay strong, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic told Reuters on Friday.

Additional takeaways

"Substantial progress benchmark for starting bond-buying 'taper' would be met if august job gains are similar to those in June and July."

"Would want taper finished as quickly as possible once started, it would not be objectionable to end it in the first quarter of 2022."

"Outlook for the economy has not been changed in a material way by delta coronavirus variant, seeing some slowing but from extremely high levels."

"Foundations' of inflation are quite strong, reasonable measures show Fed has already met its goal of 2% inflation on average."

"It is important for the Fed to start discussing what time horizon it will use in applying new average inflation framework and be transparent over how that is being applied in practice."

"Judgment about the achievement of broad, inclusive maximum employment will be a game-time decision once it is clear the time is nearing for a possible interest rate increase."

Market reaction

These comments don't seem to be having a significant impact on the USD's performance against its major rivals. As of writing, the US Dollar Index was down 0.05% on the day at 93.00.