One of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setters has described the case for a further increase in short-term interest rates as “compelling”, arguing that the trends for employment and inflation are in the right direction.
Loretta Mester, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said the US economy had “proven itself to be resilient through a number of shocks” which was why a gradual upward path for the federal funds target range was appropriate.
The Federal Open Market Committee member acknowledged there still might be negative risks looming overseas — for example the slower Chinese growth rate and the aftermath of the Brexit vote — but she argued that the central bank also needed to recognise “upside” risks.