Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen prepped markets for a near-term rate hike in remarks at Harvard University on Friday. ‘It’s appropriate for the Fed to gradually and cautiously increase our overnight interest rate over time,’ she said. ‘And probably in the coming months such a move would be appropriate.’ Yellen expects continued improvement in the economy and commented on the progress made since the 2008 financial crisis. ‘It has been a slow recovery, but we’ve made a great deal of progress,’ she added, referring to the unemployment rate falling to 5 percent from 10 percent. Yellen also weighed in on the limited tools of central bankers, saying the Fed doesn’t have the scope to reduce rates in case of another financial crisis, since rates are already close to zero. Though negative interest rates aren’t on Yellen’s radar right now. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.
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