Federal Reserve press conference, 2016-06-15 — Chair Janet Yellen

Question (Peter Barnes, Fox Business): Ma’am, Peter Barnes, Fox Business. Hi. We are in an election season, and in the past, the Fed has been sensitive to making policy changes in election years. You have three more meetings before the November presidential election. Could you comment on whether or not the election will come into play, and any concern that if you change policy ahead of the election and, based on your forecast today, you obviously could—are you concerned that that could then lead to charges that the Fed is trying to change policy to influence the outcome of the election, because the Fed has been sensitive to that in the past? Thank you.
Answer: So we are very focused on assessing the economic outlook and making changes that are appropriate without taking politics into account. Look, if the data— incoming data were, in the coming months, to justify the kind of gradual increases that we have long discussed, that we see as appropriate in light of the outlook, I think markets should not be surprised by such a decision if we make it. And it’s obviously consistent with the data that we’ve seen, and the Committee will feel free to move in the coming months if we think it’s appropriate.