Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has delivered his most explicit signal yet that a rate hike could be imminent, telling the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday that recent data has not shown underlying inflation trends improving meaningfully.
The Fed held rates steady at three-and-a-half to three-and-three-quarter per cent in July, but three regional presidents dissented, wanting to raise borrowing costs as inflation has remained above the central bank's two per cent target for more than five years.
A Reuters poll found a majority of economists expect no hike before the end of the year, but some major banks now forecast a quarter-point increase when policymakers meet on the sixteenth of September.
Nick Harper reports from Washington.
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Reporter Nick Harper in Washington says while traders have seized on the Fed chair's language, Warsh added a significant caveat — explicitly stating his remarks should not be read as a commitment to act.
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