Fed's Goolsbee sees gradual policy rate cuts over next 12-18 months

(Reuters) - Chicago Federal Reserve Bank Austan Goolsbee on Thursday said he sees a series of interest-rate cuts over the next year to year and a half, noting that inflation is now near the Fed's 2% goal and the economy is about at full employment, and the Fed's goal is to freeze those conditions in place.    "Over a 12-18 month period, I think we are going to gradually, whatever word you want to use, move to a steady state" on the policy rate, Goolsbee said in a CNBC interview.

He noted that there was broad agreement among policymakers that rates need to drop a "fair amount" over that time period. Near-term, he said, there are likely to be more meetings where policy decisions will be close calls, as last month's was, as central bankers sift through sometimes conflicting data.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir)