BANGKOK (Reuters) - New York Federal Reserve President William McDonough said on Monday the U.S. economy would begin an upturn by the second quarter and growth would be ``quite strong'' by the second half of this year.

``Many observers believe that the economy will begin to turn up by the second quarter, that the second quarter will probably be somewhat better than the first quarter,'' McDonough told reporters after a dinner speech in Bangkok.

``I think that's the most likely possibility -- that by the second quarter it will begin to turn up,'' he said.

``To be more specific, by the second half of the year the economy will be growing quite strong.''

The U.S. Federal Reserve twice cut key interest rates by half a percentage point last month -- the most drastic rate cuts since December 1991 when the country was emerging from recession.

It said it viewed excessive weakness as the main risk to the U.S. economy and it was open to further rate cuts if necessary.

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told U.S. lawmakers in January that growth was ``probably very close to zero right now.''

But last Friday, Robert McTeer, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said he saw a good chance for economic growth to continue even though it had hit an ``air pocket'' at the end of 2000.



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