"I
would have hiked earlier and I would have gotten off zero
earlier, but it's easier to say with hindsight," El-Erian told
cable television network CNBC.
"We know that there was a moment when domestic data was
relatively strong and international data was okay. Now, the
international data is really scary, and therefore the Fed has
lost the opportunity when it had some alignment."
China, the world's second-biggest economy, showed
weaker-than-expected growth in factory output, investment and
retail sales in July. Economic growth in the euro zone slowed in
the second quarter as France stagnated and Italy lost momentum,
data released Aug. 14 showed.
Fed officials widely agreed last month the economy was nearing
the point where interest rates should move higher, but worried
that lagging inflation and a weak global economy posed too big a
risk to commit to "lift-off," according to minutes of the Fed's
July policy meeting released on Wednesday.
Traders scaled back bets the Fed would raise rates in September
after the minutes.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Dan
Grebler)
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