Fed up?

Washington

THE Federal Reserve is hearing the call of economic data more loudly than the voices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The institutions have urged the US central bank to delay interest hikes into 2016, but Fed chair Janet Yellen and her colleagues see rates starting upwards this year.

Earlier this month, the IMF suggested the US economy wasn't yet solid enough and the World Bank warned that higher short-term dollar interest rates could damage fragile global growth. The reasons given for the Fed to avoid rate hikes for now included low inflation and tepid wage growth.