HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. central bank has to be proactive and aggressive to get up to the Federal Reserve's inflation targets, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
U.S. inflation measures have shown some recent strength, with the Fed's preferred annual measure flat at 1.7 percent in February, though still below its target of 2 percent.
After having raised rates for the first time in a decade in December, the U.S. central bank stood pat in January and again in mid-March, when it cited weakness overseas and an early-year market sell-off that has since reversed.
Evans, who has been pushing for only two rate hikes this year, repeated that risks to the economy are tilted to the downside.
He does not have a vote on policy this year, but does take part in the Fed's regular policy-setting meetings.
(Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)