Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer signaled that a 2016 rate hike is still under consideration, saying the US economy is already close to meeting the central bank’s goals and that growth will gain steam. “We are close to our targets,” Fischer said in a speech at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado on Sunday. Fischer’s remarks come less than a week before Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks Aug. 26 at an annual symposium hosted by the Kansas City Fed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “A 1.25 percentage point slowdown in productivity growth is a massive change, one that, if it were to persist, would have wide-ranging consequences for employment, wage growth, and economic policy more broadly,” he said. Fischer said monetary policy isn’t equipped to boost productivity growth.

Source: The Standard August 22, 2016 08:15 UTC