While she favours higher rates now, she said her view could be shifted by economic data in advance of the September 20-21 meeting.
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More members of the Federal Reserve are favoring an interest rate hike possibly as early as September even though US economic growth remains persistently anemic. It doesn’t mean I think that needs to happen rapidly.
“I don’t see better outcomes from waiting”.
George spoke to FOX Business ahead of hosting the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
George dissented in July at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which held the target for the federal funds rate in a range of 0.25 to 0.5%, because she preferred an increase.
American GDP growth could still hit 2% in 2016, she said, with a rate of expansion of 3% within reach in the backhalf of the year – barring unforeseen events. However she added she doesn’t want to raise rates so much that the Fed slows down an already slow-growing economy.
On Sunday, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the U.S. job market was close to full strength and still improving – comments viewed by some investors as underlining the case for a rate hike. Recent comments by her Fed lieutenants, Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and New York Fed President William Dudley, that were confident about the economy have nudged market expectations of a hike in December to about 42 percent.
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“Any potential strength in consumer and jobs data could be very helpful to support equity prices where they are right now”, said Jon Adams, senior investment strategist at BMO Global Asset Management in Chicago.
