Fed's Williams: Slowdown in U.S. inflation due to one-off factors

A recent slowdown in U.S. inflation was mainly due to one-off factors and should not prevent further increases in interest rates, a top U.S. central banker said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters before a speech in Sydney, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said three rate rises this year and three to four next year would be fine as long as the economy progressed as hoped, though much would depend on how the data unfolded.

Williams said his own estimate of neutral policy -- a rate that was neither a stimulus nor a drag on growth -- was a little below 3 percent.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook and Swati Pandey; Editing by Eric Meijer)