Fed's Kaplan says backs gradual rate increases in 2017

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is ready for gradual interest rate increases this year and it remains too early to know whether Trump administration policies will boost economic growth, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan said on Friday.

"We should be removing accommodation in 2017. I think we can do it gradually and patiently," Kaplan, who has a vote on Fed interest rate policy this year, told an economics conference in Chicago, adding that he was not ready to "pre-judge" changes in tax and spending policies in the incoming administration.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jason Lange; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)