Bullard says Fed needs to make rate guidance more data dependent

ST.LOUIS (Reuters) - The U.S. central bank needs to change the way it communicates its view on the future path of interest rates, a Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday, joining others inside the Fed who are calling for an overhaul of its policy statement. "I would like to get the commitment to move to something more data dependent. I think that's really the way to go," Bullard said in remarks to reporters on the sidelines of a community banking conference here. Bullard said that he did support, however, the September policy statement, where the Fed kept in place its guidance that it will consider lifting rates only until a "considerable time" after it ends its bond buying program. "I thought it was premature to remove 'considerable time' from the statement because QE hasn't ended yet," Bullard said, referring to the Fed's bond buying program, formally known as quantative easing. The program is expected to end next month. "A more natural juncture would probably be the October meeting," he said. Bullard stuck with his view that the Fed should move to lift interest rates late in the first quarter of 2015, citing strong economic data and a low unemployment rate. Bullard said that if you take out the first quarter, the U.S. economy is growing at a roughly 4 percent rate. (Reporting by Michael Flaherty; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)