Raphael Bostic of Atlanta Federal Reserve stated Wednesday that while he believes interest rates will rise three to four times this fiscal year, the bank’s president stressed that it is not bound by a plan.

On CNBC’s “SquawkBox”, the policymaker expressed a more cautious view on rates than what the market is expressing.

He said, “In terms interest rate increases, I currently have three forecasts for this year.” Although I lean towards four, we will need to watch how the economy reacts to our initial steps in the second half of 2011.

According to market prices, there are likely to be at least five or six increases of 0.25 percentage point each. Bank of America has recently predicted seven inflationary hikes, as its central bank combats the rising cost of living.

This is breaking news. For more information, please check here.