Janet Yellen becomes first woman to chair U.S Federal Reserve

Janet Yellen becomes first woman to chair U.S Federal Reservebigstock-Federal-Reserve-System-Symbol-resized

When current chair Ben Bernanke ends his term at the end of January, Janet Yellen will take over as the first woman in history to chair the U.S central bank.

67 year old Yellen was nominated for the post by President Obama after the Democratic Party opposed his former economic adviser Lawrence Summers.

One of the main challenges facing Yellen is management of the $85 billion a month (£50 billion) bond-buying economic stimulus programme,

known as “quantitative easing.” There has been controversy over the programme since last October, with tapering delayed to try and support the U.S labour market and economy in its recovery.

Yellen supported the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep US interest rates low and help the domestic economy recover without causing instability in the global market. Due to the progress made in the U.S job market, Bernanke announced in December that the bond-buying economic stimulus would be reduced to $75 billion a month.

Following this, the Federal Reserve is expected to make $10 billion tapers every month until the bond buying measure is completed at the end of this year. Interest rates will remain low however, ensuring that the positive signs of recovery in the U.S economy will not be disrupted.