It is time for the Federal Reserve to raise U.S. interest rates gradually, given progress on employment and inflation, Kansas City Fed President Esther George said in television interviews, kicking off a high-profile conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a cautiously hawkish view.
"I think it's time to move," she told Bloomberg TV as some of the world's top central bankers gathered to consider whether monetary policy needs to be reimagined in a world of persistently low rates, inflation, and economic growth. The interview was conducted on Wednesday and broadcast on Thursday.
George, the only policymaker to dissent against the Fed's decision last month to leave rates unchanged at the fifth straight policy meeting, said she is "not convinced" that a fundamental rethink is necessary at this point. Read More