Aug 18 Reuters The Federal Reserve needs to keep raising borrowing costs to bring high inflation under control, a string of U.S. central bank officials said on Thursday, even as they debated how fast and how high to lift them.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who was among the central bank39;s earliest advocates last year of a more muscular response to fastbuilding price pressures, said that given the strength of the economy he is currently leaning toward supporting a third straight 75basispoint interest rate hike in September.

I don39;t really see why you want to drag out interest rate increases into next year, Bullard told the Wall Street Journal, saying he would like to get the Fed39;s benchmark overnight interest rate to a target range of 3.75 to 4.00 by the end of this year. The Fed39;s policy rate is currently 2.252.50.

Earlier on Thursday, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said hiking rates by 50 or 75 basis points at the Sept. 2021 policy meeting would be a reasonable way to get shortterm borrowing costs to a little bit above 3 by the end of this year, and on their way to a little bit higher in 2023.

The exact pace would depend on employment data, which has shown brisk growth in recent months, and inflation, Daly told CNN International. Inflation, by the Fed39;s preferred measure, is running at more than three times the central bank39;s 2 target.

With the global economic slowdown acting as a headwind on U.S. growth, she said we have to take that…