RIVERWOODS, Ill./CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - Another clutch of U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers said on Wednesday they would be cautious about raising interest rates without getting better a handle on how growing risks to an otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook could play out. FILE PHOTO: A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo After months of tumult in the stock market, presidents of four of the 12 Fed regional banks said they wanted greater clarity on the state of the economy before extending the central bank’s rate hike campaign any further. Three of the four, Charles Evans of Chicago, Eric Rosengren of Boston, and James Bullard of St. Louis, are voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s policy-setting panel. Bullard has long been critical of the Fed’s rate increases, begun in December 2015, but the … [Read more...] about Fed policymakers call for caution on further U.S. rate hikes
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Boston Fed’s Rosengren urges flexibility on future rate hikes
Visit The Boston Globe Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Comment on this Scroll to top of page Larry Edelman Globe Staff January 09, 2019 Investors are too gloomy, but the Federal Reserve should raise interest rates only if future data show the economy in danger of overheating. That’s the view of Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. While he is a widely respected economist, Rosengren’s views take on added importance this year because he has rejoined the Fed committee in Washington, D.C., that sets interest rate policy. “I personally suspect that financial market sentiment may have become unduly pessimistic,” Rosengren said in remarks prepared for a speechWednesday at the Boston Economic Club. Advertisement “Economic growth was quite strong in 2018, and some of that strength is likely to carry forward. . . . There are many reasons to believe the consumer is still engaged and … [Read more...] about Boston Fed’s Rosengren urges flexibility on future rate hikes
More Fed officials say caution is needed before more rate hikes
RIVERWOODS, Ill./CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - Another clutch of U.S. Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday they would be cautious about any further increases in interest rates so that the central bank could assess growing risks to an otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook. FILE PHOTO: A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo The presidents of three of the 12 Fed regional banks, from Chicago, St. Louis and Atlanta, all pointed to a need for greater clarity on the state of the economy before extending the central bank’s rate hike campaign into a fourth year. Two of the three, Charles Evans of Chicago and James Bullard of St. Louis, are voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s policy-setting panel. Bullard has long been critical of the Fed’s rate increases, begun in December 2015, but the caution from Evans is … [Read more...] about More Fed officials say caution is needed before more rate hikes
Evans still sees U.S. rate hikes but cites risks, says Fed can wait…
FILE PHOTO: Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, poses for a photo in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ann Saphir RIVERWOODS, Ill. (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve can wait and use the first half of this year to assess growing risks to the otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook, an influential regional Fed president said on Wednesday, even as he stuck by an expectation to eventually raise interest rates a bit into restrictive territory. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans has been among the most vocal backers of gradually tightening U.S. monetary policy. In his first public comments since November, he nodded to an array of “tough-to-read” factors highlighted by the recent market selloff, but penciled in a forecast for reasonably good U.S. growth and employment in 2019 and beyond. His prepared remarks gave no hard timeline for further rate hikes but they hinted he could agree to stand pat until around mid year to see how … [Read more...] about Evans still sees U.S. rate hikes but cites risks, says Fed can wait…
Bostic: Fed needs to be patient, seek ‘greater clarity’ on economic…
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - Firms are growing cautious and hesitant to invest, a likely drag on growth in 2019 that should leave the Fed patient about further rate increases until there is “greater clarity” about the direction of the economy, Atlanta Federal Reserve bank president Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic participates in a panel discussion at the American Economic Association/Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) 2019 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Christopher Aluka Berry/File Photo Bostic, who earlier this week said the Fed was likely to need at most a single rate increase this year, elaborated on that view as driven by conversations with business executives who say they have become more defensive in preparing for slower growth by paying down debt and holding off on new plans. Those conversations “are not consistent with the business sector … [Read more...] about Bostic: Fed needs to be patient, seek ‘greater clarity’ on economic…