(Reuters) – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Wednesday said he is optimistic and confident in his forecast for stronger growth this year, but said that the Fed will need to see actual progress toward its goals, not just improved forecasts, before reducing its massive bond buying program.

“We are going to have to go months and months into the higher inflation experience before I’m going to even have an opinion on whether or not this is sustainable or not, and that’s going to be uncomfortable,” Evans said, noting he expects prices to rise in coming months. “We really have to be patient and be willing to be bolder than most conservative central bankers would choose to be if we are going to actually get inflation expectations to move up in a sustainable fashion.”

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)