Fed's Waller says course of inflation this year to dictate rate hikes

Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who has been at the forefront at the U.S. central bank in calling for a faster and more aggressive response to high inflation, on Thursday said that if inflation falls to 2.5%, rapid rate hikes would no longer be needed

Inflation, which registered 7% in December as measured by the consumer price index, will likely be down to 2.5% by the end of this year, Waller told Bloomberg TV. (Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Leslie Adler)