Washington, Aug 27 (TIWN) Three US Federal Reserve officials have urged the central bank to announce a plan for tapering its asset purchases as soon as September despite the risks from the Delta variant-fuelled Covid-19 resurgence.

"It would continue to be my view that when we get to the September meeting, we would be well served to announce a plan for adjusting purchases and begin to execute that plan in October or shortly thereafter," he said.   

While the rapid spread of the more contagious Delta variant in recent weeks is a concern, Kaplan didn't expect that to have much impact on the US economy in a broad sense.   "What we're seeing is businesses and consumers are learning to adapt and go on with their lives, and they're realising that this is not going to be neat and clean or a straight line," he said.   St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard also told CNBC on Thursday that the central bank should begin tapering asset purchases soon and have the process wrapped up by the end of March to prevent the U.S. economy from overheating.   "I think that there is worry that we're doing more damage than helping with the asset purchases because there is an incipient housing bubble in the US," Bullard said.