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Yellen Before Congress Says Unwise to Wait for Too Long to Hike

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Waiting too long to raise interest rates would be “unwise” as economic growth continues and inflation rises, Fed Chair Janet Yellen told Congress on Tuesday.

Repeating caution that she and other central bank officials have issued in recent months, Yellen said that even though the Fed expects to hike gradually and to keep policy accommodative, getting rates back to normal levels is important and hikes will be considered ahead.

Market reaction was prompt, with government bond yields jumping on the news.

The Fed kept its target overnight lending rate near zero for seven years and raised just twice since — in December 2015 and again a year later. The funds rate is currently targeted in the 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent range.

Traders do not expect the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee to hike at the March session. However, Yellen did say that increases would be evaluated “at upcoming meetings.”

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza

@alfonso_forex

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