Janet Yellen hints at Federal Reservesummer rate hike

The Federal Reserve should raise interest rates “in the coming months” if the economy picks up as expected and jobs continue to be generated, US central bank chief Janet Yellen said yesterday.

“It’s appropriate for the Fed to gradually and cautiously increase our overnight interest rate over time, and probably in the coming months such a move would be appropriate,” Ms Yellen said during an appearance at Harvard University.

Although Ms Yellen expressed caution about too steep a rise in US interest rates, she sounded more confident than she has in the past about economic growth and the prospect of inflation edging higher toward the Fed’s 2% target.