Fed should raise rates to restrain growth and inflation, Hammack says

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Beth Hammack on Thursday reiterated her view that the U.S. central bank should raise rates immediately to bring down too-high inflation and restrain business growth and investment.

"When I'm talking to businesses, I hear that businesses are excited to raise funds, they're excited to borrow so they can continue to invest. They see the growth opportunities, which is great; I want them to continue to see growth opportunities, but if we have too much of that growth.... it could mean that that's putting additional pressure on price increases and that puts more of that inflationary pressure out there," Hammack said at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce in Dayton, Ohio. "We need to make sure that we've got some amount of restraint coming from policy so that we can get inflation from this above-3% number back down to that 2% objective."