Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, said early Thursday that he thinks the Federal Reserve likely will raise rates in September.
"I do I think that's the most probable," El-Erian stated during an interview on Bloomberg TV. "It speaks to the theme of divergence in monetary policy, which itself speaks of three things: a multi-speed global economy, different exposure to exogenous factors and finally …. [the fact that] some countries are using monetary policy as a currency policy."
In addition to laying out the global context for a probable Fed rate hike, he also noted specific U.S.-based reasons for such a move.
"For a while, the U.S. was willing to stand on the sidelines and let the dollar appreciate," El-Erian explained. When the dollar got to about $1.05 vs. the euro, though, "sentiment changed as U.S. companies began reporting difficulties" due to the dollar's appreciation.
"The U.S. does not wish to be the only game in town when it comes to currency appreciation," the economist added. "We have signs … that we are no longer in the paradigm where you get uncontrolled U.S. currency appreciation."
