Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester (and 2018 FOMC voter)
- Says further US interest rate hikes in 2018 and 2019 'appropriate'
- Pace of rate hikes should be similar to 2017, when Federal Reserve raised rates three times
- Says rate hike path gives inflation time to rise, while avoiding build-up of risks
- Sees unemployment falling below 4 pct this year, inflation rising to 2 pct in next one to two years
- Says she expects GDP growth of 2.5 pct this year
- US tax cuts will add 0.25 to 0.5 pctge point to GDP growth this year and next, possibly more
- Mester says difficult to estimate long-run impact on growth from tax changes
Headlines via Reuters
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These from text prepared for delivery to the Council for Economic Education in New York