Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Thursday that the recent data showed the demand side of the economy was not softening as expected and added that she was expecting growth to slow appreciably this year, as reported by Reuters.

Mester further noted that she is not ready to say if the Fed needs a bigger rate increase at the next policy meeting but said that she would not want to surprise the markets.

Elaborating on the rate outlook, Mester reiterated that the main focus now is on raising rates and added that she doubts there will be a need to cut rates this year.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index clings to modest daily gains slightly below 104.00 following these comments.