PIMCO says U.S. may lift rates four times in 2018, but recession likely

[June 20, 2017]  LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. may raise interest rates as much as four times next year, but the probability of recession over the next three to five years remains high, PIMCO's Andrew Balls said on Tuesday.

Balls, the chief investment officer for global fixed income at PIMCO, one of the world's biggest bond funds, said he expected the Fed's main rate to top out around 2 percent in the current hiking cycle.

The Fed raised rates once in 2015 and 2016 and has already raised twice so far this year.

"They may go again this year, they could go...four times next year depending on what we get on fiscal policy," he told a Euromoney conference in London.

"The probability of a recession over the next 3-5 years is pretty high."

(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by John Geddie)

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