SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is still on track for potentially raising U.S. interest rates in the middle of this year, a top Fed official said on Friday.
Stronger U.S. economic momentum, an unemployment rate approaching normal levels and a forecast for inflation to return to the Fed's 2-percent goal despite downward pressure from sliding oil prices and weakness from abroad mean mid-year is still likely to be an appropriate time to weigh raising rates, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said at a meeting of the Bay Area Economic Institute.
Data could swing the timing of the decision one way or another, he said.