Chile cenbank president: time to raise rate near

SANTIAGO May 17 (Reuters) - Chile's central bank needs to gradually withdraw monetary stimulus to help hit inflation targets and the time to start raising its key interest rate is near, bank president Jose De Gregorio said on Monday.

De Gregorio, speaking to a seminar, said however that monetary policy would continue to stimulate the economy in coming months and quarters in the wake of a devastating February earthquake.

The bank held its benchmark interest rate CLINTR=ECI steady for a 10th month in a row at 0.50 percent on Thursday, as expected, but is widely seen starting to raise rates from their "minimum" level as soon as June or July. (Reporting by Simon Gardner and Antonio de la Jara; Editing by James Dalgleish; )