NY Fed president urges caution on rate hikes, cites risks to America

Nusa Dua, Indonesia

THE Federal Reserve should be cautious on interest rate increases due to lingering risks to the US economy, one of its most influential policymakers said on Monday, appearing to signal the chance of a hike by the end of the year was fading.

While New York Fed president William Dudley said that it was "premature" to rule out a policy tightening in 2016, he argued that negative shocks were more likely than positive ones due to the unknown fallout from Britain's vote to leave the European Union and a strong dollar.