By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - Citizens Financial CFG.N may temper hiring as uncertainty hangs over the economy, but it has no plans to cut staff, its chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday.

"We may slow down new hiring a bit until we see kind of where things are going, but we're not deciding that we need to right-size the force," CEO Bruce Van Saun said.

The U.S.-based regional lender's profit fell in the first quarter as it brought in less income from interest payments.

But the lender maintained its medium-term target of a net interest margin between 3.25% and 3.50%. The metric is a key measure of banking profitability that takes into account earnings from interest on loans and payments on deposits.

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies have sparked concerns over rising inflation and a potential recession, weakening consumer confidence. The tariffs could also erode consumer spending and weigh on borrowers' demand for loans.

"The big thing on everybody's mind is the macro environment, what's happening with these tariffs," Van Saun said.

Companies and private equity firms are holding back on some investments and mergers and acquisitions as they try to understand the changes and duration of the Trump administration's economic policies, he added.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar, editing by Lananh Nguyen and Rod Nickel)

((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +1 347 908-6341; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))