By Ann Saphir (Reuters) - As the White House and Congressional Democrats press for a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that many Republicans say is more than what the country needs or can afford, Federal Reserve policymakers are also split on the issue. We are still in the teeth of this pandemic - and we are not out of the woods yet, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in an online event Monday. He forecast, as vaccines get rolled out and more businesses can reopen, the U.S. economy will likely grow about 5% this year, enough to push unemployment down to 4.5%, from 6.7% in December.
Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan on Monday said he expects broad vaccine distribution to unleash strong economic growth later this year, allowing the U.S. central bank to begin to pull back on some of its extraordinary monetary support.
2 Min Read
WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is tapping a senior official to lead a new team focused specifically on financial risks posed by climate change, the central bank announced Monday.
Kevin Stiroh, who previously led bank supervision at the New York Fed, will lead the newly-formed “Supervision Climate Committee,” which gathers senior Fed officials to study what climate change could mean for banks and financial markets.
The move is the latest indication that the Fed is honing in on climate change as an area to closely monitor for potential risks to the financial system. In December, the Fed announced it had joined an international central bank group devoted to climate change. The central bank said in November for the first time that climate change could pose financial stability risks.