The Federal Reserve is ready to increase the base rate this year, said yesterday the chairman of the US central bank, Janet Yellen, speaking at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
"Most of my colleagues and I believe that the raising of the federal funds rate is appropriate to the end of the current year", - quotes its words Bloomberg.
The head of the Fed admitted that the US unemployment rate will continue to decline, and expressed confidence that inflation in the country will rise over time, when the effect of the fall in oil prices will be over.
"Probably, the unemployment rate will temporarily drop below the level at which the inflation can be stabilized at 2%," - she said, adding that this trend will help a greater number of citizens to find permanent work.
"We welcome the further strengthening of the labor market, as long as we have not reached full employment ", - said Yellen. According to Fed, full employment corresponds to the unemployment rate at 4.9%, while in August it was 5.1%.
“Yellen admitted the rate hike, but once again she made it clear that it will be gradual” - said a senior economist at JP Morgan Securities, Michael Feroli.
According to the survey of Fed members, they expect an average increase of the rate by 0.25 percentage points in 2015, and four similar increases in 2016.
During today's Asian trade, the US dollar rose in relation to 15 of the 16 major currencies in anticipation of higher US interest rates of the Central Bank, said Bloomberg.
The USD index, showing the position of the American national currency against major world competitors, rose 0.2% on Friday, and since the beginning of this week it rose 1.1%. Euro was traded at $ 1.1175 compared with $ 1.1230 at the close of the previous session.