(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic reiterated his expectation for one interest-rate cut this year, adding the central bank can afford to be patient as long as the economy holds up. 

“I have an outlook for how the economy’s going to perform,” Bostic said Monday during a moderated conversation hosted by the University of Cincinnati’s Real Estate Center in Ohio. “If it does that, then I think we can afford to be patient.”

Bostic said Friday that he now projects just one interest-rate cut this year, adding that reduction will likely happen later in the year than he previously expected. He described the decision to shift his forecast from two cuts to one as a “close call.”

“The goal and the reality is that we’ve got to let the data guide us,” Bostic said. 

Fed officials held interest rates steady last week and narrowly maintained their outlook for three interest-rate cuts this year. Individuals’ expectations of the rate outlook, however, were split. 

The central bank’s “dot plot” showed 10 officials forecast three or more quarter-point cuts this year, while nine anticipated two or fewer. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Monday that he was among the policymakers anticipating three interest-rate cuts this year.

Following the decision, Chair Jerome Powell said central bankers expect to gain confidence that inflation will move to the 2% goal and that the first reduction would likely be “at some point this year.”

Read More: Fed’s Bostic Now Anticipates Just One Rate Cut This Year

“As long as the economy is strong, as long as GDP is high, as long as businesses are hiring and folks have jobs, I’m not in a hurry to get inflation down to 2%,” Bostic said. “If it continues on a trajectory, I’m happy with that.”

Bostic also said the Fed wants to avoid sparking market volatility as it shrinks its portfolio of assets, noting at some point the central bank will slow the pace of runoff. 

--With assistance from Steve Matthews.

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