White House says interviewing Fed candidates

US - The Bush administration is interviewing candidates to fill two vacancies on the powerful seven-member Federal Reserve Board, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

"It's definitely an item that's of concern to the president," said Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. "He plans to fill these vacancies in a timely way."

Hubbard said President George W. Bush aims at filling the vacancies on the board - which forms the core of the central bank's interest-rate setting