Gold Silver Reports ~ Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged weaknesses in the global economy in prepared testimony to Congress on Wednesday, but indicated that rates could still rise this year, albeit at a slower pace.
*#Tightening financial conditions driven by falling stock prices, uncertainty over China and a global reassessment of credit risk could throw the U.S. economy off track, she said.
*# But she added that there are good reasons to believe the U.S. will stay on a path of moderate growth that will allow the Fed to pursue “gradual” adjustments to monetary policy.
*# She also defended the bank’s December rate hike, saying that if it was not implemented, a sharper increase may well have been necessary in the future which could have pushed the economy into recession. ~ Neal Bhai Reports