By Ann Saphir

(Reuters) – St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said Thursday that he has become “dramatically” more hawkish in light of the hottest inflation in nearly 40 years, and he now wants a full percentage point of interest rate hikes by July 1.

“I’d like to see 100 basis points in the bag by July 1,” Bullard told Bloomberg News in an interview, after a government report showed inflation rose 7.5% in the 12 months through January.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir)