Hoenig suggests raising target interest rate to 1 percent

The FOMC needs greater
flexibility to gradually change the rate as the economy improves, he
said. 

Hoenig expects the economy to
expand at about a 3 percent rate this year, revised slightly downward from his “above
3 percent” forecast. 

Gross domestic product
expanded at a revised downward rate of 2.7 percent in the first three months of
the year. Economists have expressed concerns that growth could be stunted by a
slowly expanding job market. 

Hoenig also addressed the Fed’s
balance sheet, saying the central bank needs to move “as quickly as we can” to
sell off more than $2 trillion in mortgage-backed securities acquired to help
promote economic growth during the financial crisis.