Jan 7 (Reuters) - Following are highlights from remarks on the economy and monetary policy delivered by Federal Reserve officials since the statement issued by the U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee on Dec. 17.
JAN 7 CHICAGO FED PRESIDENT CHARLES EVANS (2015 voter on the Federal Open Market Committee) Evans said he is very concerned that, by his forecast, inflation won't return to the Fed's 2-percent goal until 2018, even if the Fed does not begin to raise rates until next year. But he also suggested that he would be open to raising rates this year, should data come in stronger than expected, or if the rate rises are shallow enough that they would not keep inflation from returning to more healthy levels.
JAN 5 SAN FRANCISCO FED PRESIDENT JOHN WILLIAMS (2015 voter on the Federal Open Market Committee) Williams reiterated his view that the Fed could reasonably begin debating a rate hike in mid-2015 and said he expected rate hikes thereafter to be gradual. But despite strong tail winds for the U.S. economy such as lower energy prices, "I see no reason whatsoever to rush to tightening." JAN 4 MINNEAPOLIS FED PRESIDENT NARAYANA KOCHERLAKOTA (Does not vote this year on the FOMC) When it comes to deciding rate policy, Kocherlakota said the Fed was better off using its best judgment rather than relying on a policy rule, as some lawmakers are proposing.
JAN 3 BOSTON FED PRESIDENT ERIC ROSENGREN (Does not vote this year on the FOMC) Low inflation provides "ample justification" for patience on raising rates, Rosengren said. The last time the Fed raised rates, unemployment was actually lower and inflation quite a bit higher than it is today, he said. The Fed has "not been unusually patient as yet," he added.
NOV 2 CLEVELAND FED PRESIDENT LORETTA MESTER (Does not vote this year on the FOMC) The U.S. economy is on firm footing, and the Fed could well respond by raising rates in the first half of the year, before many economists and traders are expecting, Mester said.
DEC 19 SAN FRANCISCO FED'S WILLIAMS (2015 voter) Williams said June 2015 "seems like a reasonable starting point for thinking about when liftoff could happen," even though he expects core inflation to still be below 2 percent at that point. Williams' views are often seen as reflecting the Fed policy-setting core.
MINNEAPOLIS FED'S KOCHERLAKOTA (Not a 2015 voter) The Federal Reserve is creating "unacceptable" downside risks to U.S. inflation. It should have pledged to keep rates low until the inflation outlook improves and should have signaled it will restart its bond-buying program if inflation does not strengthen, said Kocherlakota, who dissented against the December decision.