Waller said that, like most of his colleagues, he is closely watching whether the collapse of two large banks last month will lead to a broad cut back in lending by the banking system, which could slow the economy.

But so far it’s not clear how large the impact will be, he said, and job growth remains strong and inflation is far above the Fed’s 2% target, “so monetary policy needs to be tightened further.”

His comments, delivered in San Antonio, Texas, echo those of several of his colleagues, who have said in recent weeks that they support at least one more rate hike. That would put the Fed’s benchmark rate at about 5.1%, the highest in 16 years.

[This time, they’d better check capitalization in smaller banks and firm them up before risking more devaluation in their bond portfolios. — Ed]