Fed's Kaplan says he has no problem with being 'restrictive'

(Reuters) - Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan on Monday said he expects the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates three times this year and further next year to levels that could put the brakes on U.S. economic growth, but that he does not want to push short-term rates above long-term borrowing costs.

"I don't have a problem with being restrictive," Kaplan said, adding that monetary policy would be restrictive if interest rates rise above the 2.5 percent or 2.75 percent that he estimates is their "neutral" level. But, he said, he would not want rate hikes to proceed so fast or far that the yield curve inverts. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, currently around 2.85 percent, rises higher, acts to "limit the pace and the slope of how fast we can raise rates."

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)