(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser said the U.S. Federal Reserve could slow rate hikes in late spring or early summer, in an interview with CNBC.

After months of relentlessly raising interest rates, the Fed in December signaled it would pare back the pace of its hikes as the full effects of the central bank’s policy tightening flow through into the economy.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, however, has cautioned against any undue optimism and said the central bank needs to get a firmer grip on inflation.

Last week, Fraser said Citigroup was expecting a mild recession in the United States in the second part of the year.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)