Plosser: Economy not ready yet for Fed to lift rates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is not yet in a position for the Federal Reserve to increase its benchmark lending rate, but such a move will eventually have to be made, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said on Thursday.

"The economy is probably not ready for an increase in Fed funds yet, but at some point we will have to do that," Plosser told reporters after giving a speech to the Money Marketeers in New York.

The Fed last year cut its key interest rates to a range of zero percent to 0.25 percent in efforts to get credit flowing again and spur an economic recovery.

(Reporting by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; Writing by Leslie Adler)