Yellen gives clearest signals of rate hike

Washington

FEDERAL Reserve chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that economic conditions were ripe for the Fed to start raising its benchmark interest rate this month, a move that appears all but inevitable.

She said that she is confident in the outlook for economic growth and warned that waiting too long to end the era of near-zero interest rates could force the central bank to tighten too quickly, which would risk disrupting financial markets and the six-year expansion.