Fed nominee Fischer says current policy is 'approximately appropriate'

The U.S. Federal Reserve's policy stance is "approximately appropriate" and central bankers still don't have to adjust policies to ward off inflation, the Obama administration's nominee for a top position at the Fed said on Thursday.

"We can focus on unemployment," Stanley Fischer, U.S. President Barack Obama's pick for the No. 2 spot at the Fed, told lawmakers at a confirmation hearing. He said the central bank would have to think about trade-offs between unemployment and inflation down the road, but that "we're not there yet."

"I think the mixture that we are seeing coming out of (the) Fed now is approximately appropriate," he said.

(Reporting by Washington newsroom; Writing by Jason Lange; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)