New Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Steven Kaplan, a former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and professor at Harvard Business School, said that the Fed's monetary policy should remain accommodative for some time.

"In my view, the FOMC-in the previous two meetings-has been prudent in waiting for more data before taking policy action," he said.

"Accommodative policy does not necessarily mean a zero fed funds rate. There are various costs to maintaining a zero fed funds rate for too long-particularly in terms of potential distortions in investment and business decisions. These distortions can create imbalances in investments, inventory and hiring decisions that may later need to be (painfully) unwound when policy normalizes," Kaplan added.