The Federal Reserve is close to meeting both its targets for the US economy, one of its leading policymakers said, as he delivered an upbeat verdict on the post-crisis recovery.
Stanley Fischer, the vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, said core inflation was within “hailing distance” of the central bank’s 2 per cent target, while employment had increased “impressively” since its nadir in 2010.
Mr Fischer has occupied the more hawkish end of the spectrum among the permanent members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. He did not address the question of when the Fed should next lift short-term interest rates in his speech in Aspen, Colorado.