Current situation needs to be assessed very carefully, Fed´s Kaplan says

The US central bank wanted to ward against market distortions arising from interest rates near zero but the current situation needed to be assessed and risks to growth monitored, a top-ranking official said on Thursday.

Robert Kaplan, the chief of the Federal Reserve bank of Dallas, told the Real Estate Council in Dallas he wanted to be "very patient" when assessing the outlook for the US economy.

Since December, financial conditions in the US economy had tightened, which might slow economic growth, he said.

A slowing Chinese economy, among other global developments, and its potential impact on the US, also bore watching, the rate-setter told his audience.

Kaplan would not be a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee until 2017, but beginning in March he would take part in its policy meetings over 2016.