(Reuters) – U.S. Inflation is “far to high” according to James Bullard, President of St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. He reiterated Monday his call for higher interest rates at 3.5% to end the year and slow down the inflation levels that have been 40 years high.

Bullard told a virtual meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations that, “What we have to do immediately is get expeditiously neutral and then proceed from there.” He said that economic growth is expected to be above potential and that the unemployment rate (currently at 3.6%) will not fall below 3%.

The Fed raised its target policy rate a quarter-of-a-percentage point last month, and Fed forecasts released at the time showed policymakers expected rates to rise to 1.9% by year-end. Bullard’s preference rate path would call for half-point interest rate hikes at each of six Fed meetings.

Based on the current pricing of interest-rate futures contract, it appears that there is a rate trend somewhere between 2.5% and 2.55%.

Bullard stated that he wants to reduce the Fed’s current balance sheet during a upcoming meeting. However, he indicated that he does not believe it is necessary to sell bonds until inflation recedes as expected.