(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said he doesn’t think inflation is stuck above the central bank’s target despite recent data showing price pressures picked up at the start of the year.

“There isn’t at this time much evidence, in my view, that inflation is stalling out at 3%,” Goolsbee said at an event Friday at the Economic Club of Minnesota.

The Chicago Fed chief said monetary policy is “relatively restrictive,” and avoided giving any hints on when it will be appropriate to lower borrowing costs, saying the decision will depend on incoming economic data.

“It doesn’t make sense to be tying our hands, even partly, when we know we’re going to get tons of data,” Goolsbee said.

Goolsbee’s remarks followed comments from several Fed officials who have in recent days signaled the central bank will proceed carefully as it weighs when to begin cutting interest rates. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said it may take “more time” to bring inflation down. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said Friday it’s too early to think about lowering rates. 

Read More: Bowman Sees Fed On Hold With No 2024 Cuts as Inflation Sticky

Following the event, Goolsbee and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari appeared on CNBC. Kashkari said if inflation remains stubborn and the labor market stays strong, Fed policymakers won’t feel compelled to adjust interest rates.

“We’re all mostly in agreement that if we get concerning inflation data continued, we’re going to sit where we are for an extended period of time,” Kashkari said. “We can stay here as long as needed.”

Kashkari added the bar is much higher for a rate hike, but said he’s not ruling it out either. 

Policymakers have kept their benchmark rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, a 23-year high, since last July. After again holding rates steady at their meeting last week, officials said they would not likely cut rates until they gain more confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward the Fed’s 2% target.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other officials have nonetheless described the central bank’s policy stance as having a restraining effect on the economy. 

--With assistance from Laura Curtis.

(Adds comments from Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari starting in sixth paragraph.)

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