| Chicago Fed's Evans: Need to see better housing market and Fed should keep easy policy to boost economy: Evans |
| News - Financial News |
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LAKE FOREST, Illinois (Reuters) - The president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank said on Wednesday that a more vibrant housing market will be necessary to boost home prices and provide a lift to the overall economy.Answering questions after addressing a Rotary Club meeting in Lake Forest, Illinois, Evans also said the U.S. central bank's dual mandate of promoting employment and keeping inflation contained could be beneficial with an inflation target of 2 percent.The target could be shifted in "reasonable fashion" to suit circumstances, he added, offering a 3 percent inflation rate as a plausible level as long as it was well understood that the Fed's ultimate target rate was lower.Earlier, Evans described the recovery as "painstakingly slow" and said the Fed needs to keep its super-easy monetary policy in place to reduce high unemployment. [Read the full article] European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn addresses the media at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. The European Commission says that Hungary has taken "no effective action" to contain its deficit within sustainable levels and is threatining the EU member with sanctions. EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Wednesday that Hungary only remained within the 3 percent of economic output target last year because of one-time measures and expected the same would happen this year. [Read the full article] ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates before the middle of 2013, despite the central bank's repeated forecasts that it expected to keep rates ultra low until at least then, a top official said on Wednesday.Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said that while the U.S. unemployment rate is improving, the Fed needs to monitor inflation very carefully and "proceed with caution as to the degree of monetary accommodation we supply to the economy."First, given my outlook, I believe economic conditions may require the Fed to raise rates before mid-2013," Plosser, who is not a voter on the Fed's policy-setting committee this year, told an economics seminar here. [Read the full article] 
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