Fed's Stern supports early rate hikes: Bloomberg

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve can not wait until financial and housing markets stabilize before raising interest rates, Minneapolis Fed President Gary Stern said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday.

Stern, a voter on the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, said that "headline inflation is clearly too high," and could feed through to core prices.

"We're pretty well positioned for the downside risks we might encounter from here ... I worry a little bit more about the prospects for inflation," he added.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny)