"We have return inflation to 2% in the medium term, and we will do what we have to do, which is to continue hiking interest rates in the next several meetings," she told a conference. "If we were not delivering (on our mandate) it would hurt the economy far more."

She added that the "first destination" of rate hikes will be to reach the neutral rate, which neither stimulates nor slows growth.

(Reporting by Tom Sims; Writing by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Alison Williams)