Fed's Bostic says he remains open to faster taper and one or two rate hikes in 2022

President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Raphael W. Bostic speaks at a European Financial Forum event in Dublin, Ireland February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Nov 26 (Reuters) – Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Friday he is hopeful that the momentum of the U.S. economy will carry it through the next wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and said he remains open to accelerating the pace of the central bank’s bond taper.

Earlier on Friday, the World Health Organization said it was designating the new Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, as being “of concern.”

If the new Omicron coronavirus variant follows the pattern seen with previous variants, it should cause less of an economic slowdown than the Delta variant, Bostic said.

“We have a lot of…