OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Investor Warren Buffett said the Federal Reserve and other policymakers are generally doing a good job, but it’s difficult to predict all the effects of interest rates remaining low for this long.
Buffett said on CNBC Monday that no one can predict the effects of prolonged low rates because it has never happened before, but the U.S. economy has substantially recovered from the depths of the recession in 2008.
“Very few people in 2009 would have dreamt that we could have this duration of low rates,” Buffett said.
But policy makers do have to be careful not to raise U.S. interest rates too far ahead of Europe and Japan because of unintended consequences of the imbalance, Buffett said.
Buffett appeared on CNBC Monday after spending more than five hours answering questions at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday. Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger and board member Bill Gates joined Buffett for part of the interview.