International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said yesterday that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in 2015, probably around the middle of this year. Speaking at a round table on quantitative easing and stimulus measures at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Lagarde said that the U.S. is growing, so raising rates is a good sign. "U.S. employment is up, unemployment is down and inflation is hopefully giving little signs of moving in the right direction," Lagarde said, adding, "[U.S. Federal Reserve] governor Janet Yellen has done a terrific job of communicating with the market, but the process won't be painless." Raising U.S. interest rates will unavoidably cause "side effects, spillovers and volatility," she continued. Ahead of the European Central Bank's (ECB) announcement about quantitative easing yesterday, Lagarde said that the prospective ECB policy has "already been effective." "Look at the markets, look at the expectation and you see that QE is already effective," Lagarde also said.