Greenspan says Fed to keep raising interest rates

By Alister Bull

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Alan Greenspan, in one of his last
appearances before Congress as Federal Reserve chairman, told
lawmakers on Wednesday the U.S. growth outlook was solid and
the Fed will keep lifting interest rates.

But he warned “significant uncertainties” confront this
positive prospect, including high energy prices, labor costs,
the future path of long-term interest rates and the danger this
could spell for the country’s housing market.

“Our baseline outlook for the U.S. economy is one of
sustained economic growth and contained inflation pressures,”
he told the House of Representatives Financial Services
Committee in the first of two days of semiannual testimony on
the economy and monetary policy.

“In our view, realizing this outcome will require the
Federal Reserve to continue to remove monetary accommodation.
This generally favorable outlook, however, is attended by some
significant uncertainties that warrant careful scrutiny.”

The dollar rose and U.S. government bond prices dipped on
his words, with yields on the benchmark 10-year note — which
move in the opposite direction to prices — climbing to 4.23
percent.

“The overall thrust of the remarks is that the expansion is
nowhere near its later stages. The chairman’s remarks show a
remarkable amount of confidence in the economy’s prospects,”
said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp.

Greenspan said the decline of long-term yields, which have
stayed low in the face of rising official interest rates, was
“without precedent” and warned the future behavior of the bond
market posed a risk to the outlook.

Greenspan said some regional housing markets, stimulated by
low borrowing costs, have become gripped by “speculative
fervor” although he dismissed worries that a drop in housing
prices could damage the broad economy.

The Fed has raised interest rates in nine
quarter-percentage point steps since June last year to 3.25
percent and financial markets expect them to hit 4 percent by
the end of 2005.

Long-term borrowing costs, which often track bond yields,
have stayed defiantly low and are still stimulating growth.

The Fed said the bond yield decline is in part due to a
worldwide glut in savings, a glut likely caused by insufficient
global investment.

Another culprit, Greenspan said, is a perception in
financial markets that economic risks have shrunk in the face
of expectations the benign economic climate was here to stay.

He warned investors pinning their hopes on this scenario
not to become complacent.

“History cautions that long periods of relative stability
often engender unrealistic expectations of its permanence and,
at times, may lead to financial excess and economic stress,”
Greenspan said.

“Such perceptions, many observers believe, are contributing
to the boom in home prices and creating some associated risks.”

Greenspan implied the upward movement in official rates
would be gradual, citing the last Fed policy committee
statement, which said rises would come at a “measured” pace.

While he said inflation remained well-contained, the
79-year old chairman said it was not clear if U.S. unit labor
costs would stay on their modest upward path and warned this
could have an important impact on inflation.

A spike in oil prices above $60 per barrel along with other
energy price rises posed another important economic risk.

A flattening in prices would be good for inflation, but
Greenspan noted that financial futures markets see little
chance of a decline in energy costs “for years to come.”