(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve expects to raise U.S. interest rates only gradually in part to protect the housing market and avoid a “sharp” rise in mortgage rates, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday. Yellen, addressing House lawmakers, said the central bank’s policy-setting committee does not expect a “very steep” path of rate hikes that harms the housing sector, once the tightening begins. Reporting by Jonathan Spicer
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it must raise interest rates gradually in order to protect the housing market, indicating that the market is still not strong enough to cope with immediately higher rates, even eight years on from the crisis. Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, said that the central bank's policy committee does not expect that there will be a "very steep" path of rate hikes, so as not to harm the housing market.