Starting now on rate increases is the 'right way': Jerome Powell

The Fed decision to raise interest rates should be taken as a vote of confidence in the economy, he said

Starting to raise US interest rates now is the "right way" to ensure the economy keeps growing, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said on Friday.

The Fed decision on Wednesday to raise interest rates for the first time since the financial crisis should be taken as a vote of confidence in the economy, Powell said in a radio interview on American Public Media's "Marketplace."

If conditions change, the US central bank could reduce rates back to zero, he said, adding that starting rate increases now allows future rate increases to be both small and gradual, which will help the recovery continue.