Federal Reserve's Yellen urges Congress to be wary of reforms
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has urged lawmakers to tread carefully when it comes to overhauling the central bank, warning that proposed changes may undermine its ability to support the economy. Yellen said she will tout the Fed's own efforts to boost its transparency as a way to discourage lawmakers from pushing their own proposals to bring the Fed under stricter oversight. Yellen also stated that US interest rates are still likely to rise by the end of the year, and that there were "favourable" prospects for improvements in the economy, though turbulence in Greece and China did pose risks to US growth.
WASHINGTON — Janet L. Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, told lawmakers on Wednesday that proposals to increase congressional oversight of the central bank could cause collateral damage to the broader economy.

Ms. Yellen repeated versions of that warning several times in a three-hour hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, ceding no ground to Republicans who want to impose new limits on the Fed.

“Efforts to further increase transparency, no matter how well intentioned, must avoid unintended consequences that could undermine the Federal Reserve’s ability to make policy in the long-run best interest of American families and businesses,” she said.

Ms. Yellen provided few new indications about the Fed’s plans for the next few months, and she was not pressed on the issue. Lawmakers in Congress evidently do not share Wall Street’s obsessive interest in the exact timing of interest rate increases.