(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis interim president Kathleen O’Neill Paese suggested policymakers should be ready to raise interest rates further if progress on inflation slows.

Paese said on Thursday she supported the decision to leave rates steady at the central bank’s last policy meeting but also said it was important for officials to have the option to hike further if needed to cool inflation.

“With policy currently exerting modest downward pressure on inflation, and given the balance of risks, we can afford to await further data before concluding that additional policy tightening is appropriate,” Paese said in remarks prepared for an event in Jeffersonville, Indiana. 

“However, if progress toward achieving 2% inflation stalls, I believe that the committee should act promptly to ensure that high inflation does not become entrenched,” she said in her most substantive remarks on policy since taking on the interim role this summer.

Fed officials are trying to determine if they should keep raising interest rates after leaving the central bank’s benchmark unchanged at their last two policy meetings. It’s currently in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years.

Read more: Fed’s Barkin, Bostic Say Full Impact of Rate Hikes to Come

Investors no longer expect additional increases, according to futures markets. Analysts will be watching for more clues on the future path for rates when Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks Thursday afternoon in Washington at a conference hosted by the International Monetary Fund.

Paese said she supported the recent pause because financial and credit conditions have tightened over the past two or three months, a shift that could help bring inflation down. But she said further hikes might be needed if officials do not see continued progress on inflation, which she said has been “moving more sideways” recently after falling significantly in the first nine months of this year. 

“It will be important to watch closely how all facets of financial conditions evolve in the coming weeks,” she said. 

In a question and answer session after the speech, Paese stressed that Fed officials remain committed to the central bank’s 2% inflation target, and said she expects rates will have to stay high to achieve that.

“We expect high rates to be in place for a while. It’s going to take some time to bring inflation down,” she said.

Paese, who stepped in as interim president after former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard departed in August, does not vote in monetary policy decisions this year. The regional bank is still searching for a permanent replacement for Bullard.

(Updates with comments on inflation target, rates from audience Q&A.)

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