WASHINGTON (AP) – Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Federal Reserve’s Atlanta regional bank, announced Tuesday that he plans to step down in February of next year.
Lockhart is leaving after a decade as president of the Atlanta bank, one of the Fed’s 12 regional banks. He said he plans to pursue his interests in public policy, civic work and private business after stepping down on Feb. 28.
Lockhart has been a supporter of Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s cautious approach to raising interest rates, though he is not one of the voting members of the Fed’s policy committee this year. In a speech Monday, Lockhart said he believed economic conditions justified “serious discussion” of a rate hike in September.
However, in a separate speech Monday, Fed Board member Lael Brainard urged “prudence” and indicated she was in no hurry to raise rates. Private economists believe December is the most likely time for the Fed to hike rates for the first time this year.
Thomas Fanning, the chairman of the Atlanta Fed’s board of directors and the president of Southern Company, will lead the committee that will conduct the search for Lockhart’s replacement. Marie Gooding, the Atlanta bank’s vice president, will serve as interim president if a successor is not found by Feb. 28.