Dudley: Growth in 1Q May Well Disappoint

HONG KONG — U.S. growth could disappoint in the first quarter but the outlook remains better than it was a year ago, Federal Reserve Bank of New York president William Dudley said Tuesday.

Dudley said the recent earthquake in Japan and rising oil prices have lowered the outlook over the last couple of months, but nonetheless, “the outlook for growth is better than it was last summer.”

“It looks like first-quarter growth will be somewhat disappointing compared with a few months ago, and come in at 3% or a bit less. I think there is some question about how oil prices will play with consumer confidence,” Dudley said at a discussion hosted by the Institute of Regulation and Risk North Asia.

He also said it is premature at this point to talk about exiting from quantitative easing. “We can exit and will exit when time comes, but that doesn’t mean that exit is close at hand,” Dudley said.

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