Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen recently ruled out an increase in interest rates until April 2015 at the earliest.
Yellen said Fed policy makers thought it was “unlikely” the economy would show enough vigor to justify the first rate increase since 2006 “for at least the next couple of meetings.”
Asked how many meetings equals a couple, Yellen was emphatic: two.
The Fed’s next meeting is in late January. After that, the Fed does not meet again until March 17-18.
The third meeting of the year takes place April 28-29, with another strategy session in June.
Of course, the Fed could always rates earlier if the economy grows strong enough. But it appears the central bank really is prepared to be “patient” as its latest statement suggests.
And once the Fed does begin to raise rates, Yellen and her colleagues think they will move a bit slower than they previously expected.
