Yellen: Rate hike may not come before June

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Janet Yellen said on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) that the Federal Reserve can still be patient before raising interest rates, even as she prepared the ground for an increase as early as mid-year.

With the markets’ guessing game over a rise in the federal funds rate intensifying, the Fed chair told a US Senate panel that the central bank was deep in preparation for the move after keeping the rate at zero for more than six years.