By Ann Saphir

(Reuters) – Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans on Friday repeated his view that the U.S. central bank will likely need to make seven quarter-of-a-percentage-point interest rate hikes this year to rein in inflation, but signaled that his view may well change.

Evans made the remarks in preparation for presentation to the Prairie State College Foundation.

Much of what was in the text was the exact same as a speech Evans made on March 24, 2009 in Detroit. Evans called for “timely rate rises” and suggested that policymakers should be careful, “humilled, and flexible to navigate the future.”

The Fed had raised interest rates last week for the first time since 2003. It also indicated that more rate hikes would be coming. This was likely to follow the same path Evans stated Friday as his “baseline assessment”. This path would see the Fed’s policy rates rise to between 1.75% and 2% at year-end and 2.5% to 2.5% by next year.

With data showing an already tight labor market, and inflation at a forty-year high (the Fed met March), policymakers sound more prepared to take a stronger stance.

Evans spoke out on Friday about his uncertainty over the right policy path.

He said, “As the year progresses, we will learn more and be ready to adjust our policy as necessary.”