Liftoff could begin at any policy meeting, including June, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said in a televised interview Thursday, although he repeated his preference that normalization of rates should begin next year.
"We are going into each meeting from now on talking about what the policy rate should be and at the end of every meeting, it's possible that we'll decide to begin the renormalization process," Evans said on a CNBC interview.
Earlier this week Evans said the weak first quarter numbers, which he believes are transitory, should push back liftoff until the Fed has "confirmation that they are indeed a transitory aberration," and until inflation is projected to hit 2% within the next two years.
The second quarter, he said, should be "more consistent with the stronger growth outlook that I and so many other people have of like 2.5% to 3% this year."
When asked if he could be persuaded to vote for a rate increase this year, Evans replied, "It's tricky." He said he would ask why the Federal Open Market Committee would be in a rush to increase rates.
