Washington (AFP) – With high inflation hitting the US economy, it is time for the central bank to raise the benchmark borrowing rate, but there is no reason for a “big” early move, a top Federal Reserve official said Friday. Instead, policymakers can “move steadily” to get the key lending rate off zero and back to more normal levels over the next year or more, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams told reporters. His comment downplayed expectations among many economists and investors that the Fed could move aggressively to raise interest rates by a half point in March to combat…