‘Fed may not raise rates as much as projected’

Bloomberg

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida left open the possibility the US central bank will raise interest rates in 2019 fewer than the two times projected by policy makers at their last meeting.
“A lot has really happened since the first week of December,” Clarida said in an interview on Fox Business Network. “Some of the global growth data have been softening.”
In the so-called dot-plot released after the Dec. 18-19 meeting, the median projection from policy makers was for two rate hikes this year. Clarida, however, downplayed the significance of those individual forecasts.
“We don’t vote on those dots,” he said.
Clarida said the US central bank can be “very patient” as it takes a meeting-by-meeting approach to monetary policy decisions in 2019. He emphasised that Fed’s flexibility extended not only to rates, but also to the ongoing balance sheet reduction program, which also tightens financial conditions over time.