Fed will have to block out election distractions: Kaplan

LONDON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers will need to block out the noise being created by upcoming U.S. elections in their interest rate decisions, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said on Friday. "We are going to try and block out what is going on the political world and election world," Kaplan, said at an event hosted by think-tank OMFIF. He added that U.S. interest were likely to go up slower and peak at lower levels than in the past. "The natural, the neutral rate is lower today than it was 5 years ago." "Where the natural, the neutral rate might have been a couple of hundred basis points higher ten years ago, I think you are going to see in the world today the rate we ultimately settle being lower than we are historically accustomed to and you are going to see the path to getting there as slower than we are historically accustomed to." (Reporting by Marc Jones and David Milliken)