Lagarde Defends Fed Rate Hikes, Says Markets Have Been “Extremely High”

Investing.com – Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund defended the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases on Thursday, insisting that moves to tighten monetary policy were needed, despite criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking at the IMF’s annual meetings in Bali on Thursday Lagarde said it was “legitimate and necessary” for the Fed to raise interest rates.

The comments came a day after , calling the Fed “crazy” for its plans to continue gradual rate hikes in the coming months.

Trump made the comments as a global sell-off in equities and bonds gathered pace, spurred by worries over the impact of rising interest rates.

following steep overnight losses in Asia and the largest decline for U.S. stocks in more than eight months on Wednesday as rising U.S. Treasury yields spurred a flight from risky assets.

Lagarde noted that U.S. stocks have hit record levels recently and indicated that a correction should be expected.

“It is fair to observe and all people are observing that the U.S. equity market and stock markets in general have been extremely high,” she said.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.