Early 2016 May Be Too Early For Rate Hike: Fed's Evans | Fox Business

Even early 2016 may be too soon for the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates, said Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Fed, on Wednesday. The hurdle for a rate hike is "pretty high," given weaker than expected data since the first quarter, Evans told reporters on the sidelines of a banking conference held at his regional bank, according to Reuters. That means it is unlikely to be appropriate to hike rates until the first half of 2016 or even later, he added. Evans, a voting member of the Fed policy committee this year, is one of only two Fed officials at the Fed March meeting who thought the Fed should delay raising interest rates until 2016. Before today's comments, Evans has said the central bank should wait until "sometime in early 2016" to raise interest rates.