Stronger US economy could spur earlier Fed hike in 2018: survey

Washington

A STRENGTHENING US economy may spur the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates twice in the next 3 1/2 months as a tight labour market pushes risks to the upside, a Bloomberg survey showed.

Median results of the survey of 41 economists, conducted from Dec 5-7, showed economists still expect three rate hikes in 2018 but moved forward one of those projected moves to March from June.