01:23 PM EDT, 06/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- If conditions evolve as expected, it is possible that the Federal Open Market Committee may lower interest rates later this year, though inflation remains too high currently, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said Tuesday in prepared remarks to the Peterson Institute for International Economics before a live discussion.

"While I remain cautiously optimistic that inflation is coming down, it is still too high, and it is moving down only slowly," Kugler said. "I believe that policy has more work to do, which is why I supported the FOMC's decision last week to keep the federal funds rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%."

Kugler acknowledged improvements in recent inflation data, but repeated comments from other Fed officials that more is needed to convince the FOMC that the progress is sustainable.

"We need to see more progress toward 2% inflation before I will have confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward that objective," Kugler said. "Economic conditions are moving in the right direction. If the economy evolves as I am expecting, it will likely become appropriate to begin easing policy sometime later this year. But, as always, my judgment will be guided by the data."