New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that a rate rise is getting closer and could come as soon as this year, according to Dow Jones.



"I think if the economy continues to evolve along the path we expect, I'd expect we'll be raising interest rates relatively soon," Dudley said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.



He also said "I would expect this year" action will happen when it comes to increasing the 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent central bank overnight target rate range, the news wire said. He declined to specify whether the increase would come in November or December.

His remarks followed comments earlier in the day from Fed Chair Janet Yellen that indicated the central bank may be inclined to maintain easier monetary policy for longer and let inflation run hot for a while. Traders took the news as dovish.

After the report of Dudley's comments, the climbed more than half a percent to hit session highs and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit a session high of 1.799 percent.

The New York Fed president said inflation will reach 2 percent again in the next two years and that the U.S. economy is likely to grow at a 2 to 2.5 percent rate, according to the news wire. He also said in the report the 10-year Treasury yield seemed a little low given the level of economic growth.

The U.S. Federal Reserve last raised rates in December 2015, the first hike in nearly a decade. Traders generally expect the Fed to increase rates at its meeting this December, at the earliest.

Read the full story in The Wall Street Journal.

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