IMF head says Fed should not hasten rate hike


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the U.S. Federal Reserve should not hasten to launch an interest rate hike. Speaking at G20 meetings, Lagarde suggested that it would be proper for the Fed to make a move when uncertainties about price stability and employment disappear and the data in these topics are fully confirmed. The Fed should move only when it is sure the decision is unlikely to be reversed later, she said. Last week, the U.S. stock futures pared some gains, but kept Wall Street on track to open higher, after weaker-than-expected private U.S. jobs data, raising the odds that the Fed would not raise interest rates this month. ADP data showed U.S. private employers added 190,000 jobs in August, up from a revised 177,000 in July but short of economists expectations of 201,000. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fisher said there was a "pretty strong case" for raising rates in September. That ran counter to recent market sentiment that China's economic slowdown and global market volatility might prompt the Fed to wait.