U.S. Fed could end reinvestment policy this year - Fed's Bullard

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve could begin winding down its massive balance sheet sometime later this year in a shift that would make it less necessary to raise the official funds rate, a central banker said on Monday.

Talking to reporters in Australia, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said opinions differed within the Fed on ending its balance sheet reinvestment policy and it would take some time to agree on, but he felt it could start later in the year.

Bullard, considered a policy dove by markets, said he favoured only one more interest rate hike this year. He noted the March payroll report last Friday was relatively weak and fitted in with his view that inflation would not stray far from 2 percent.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole and Richard Pullin; Editing by Kim Coghill)