It's time to discuss when to raise rates, U.S. Fed official

U.S. Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo on Tuesday signaled that he is open to further interest rate hikes.

"The discussion of when is the appropriate moment for raising rates in order to prevent the economy from overheating too much is now from my point of view more on the table than it may have been before," Tarullo said at a forum in Washington D.C.

Tarullo is among the "dove" Fed officials who advocated that the central bank should wait solid evidence for upward trend in inflation before it raises rates.

He said that there are some changes in the pattern that prevailed in inflation and labor market for a long time. Core inflation indicator showed upward movement; wage growth has picked up; and labor participation rate is close or even exceeds trend expectation, according to the official.

"All of that is suggesting to me that we're in a somewhat different situation than at least I thought we were in six or eight, 10, 12 months ago," said Tarullo.

However, he stressed that the Fed should remain cautious in moving up the rates, as there' s still slack in the labor market and the central bank has fewer tools to respond to recession.

According to analysts, Tarullo's remarks on Tuesday indicated that he is more open to further interest rate hikes. The Fed will hold its next policy meeting, also the final of the year, on Dec. 13-14. Investors widely expected the Fed would move the rates at the December meeting. Enditem