Fed may not raise rates at all this year, says Lombard Odier official

Singapore

THERE is a growing and large probability for the US Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates at all this year, given the wave of easing by other central banks and the rapid appreciation of the US dollar, senior executives from Swiss private bank Lombard Odier said last Friday.

Should the Fed raise rates from near-zero, it risks "making the US dollar the blackhole of global liquidity", explained Jean-Louis Nakamura, the bank's chief investment officer for the Asia-Pacific.