NEW YORK — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the Fed still envisions only a gradual pace of interest rate increases in light of global pressures that could affect the U.S. economy.
Yellen didn’t specify a timetable for further hikes to follow the Fed’s rate increase in December from record lows. She said risks to the United States appear limited but cautioned that that assessment is subject to “considerable uncertainty.”
Speaking to the Economic Club of New York, Yellen said the central bank is monitoring a global economic slump, sharply lower oil prices and stock market turbulence, which she said have hurt some U.S. consumers and key sectors such as manufacturing.
Singling out China — the world’s second-largest economy after the United States — Yellen noted widespread uncertainty over how well Beijing will manage a delicate slowdown in coming years.
She said that because foreign economic growth seems to have further weakened this year, the Fed will “proceed cautiously” in raising rates.
In light of her comments, most economists expect no hike at the Fed’s next policy meeting — April 26-27 — despite remarks last week from other Fed officials that had raised the possibility of a rate increase then.