By Michael S. Derby (Reuters) - Federal Reserve lending to banks eased further in the latest week, signaling that while the absolute levels of emergency credit remain high, financial sector strains which started a month ago are continuing to ease. As of Wednesday, Fed loans to banks via its discount window facility stood at $67.6 billion, from $69.7 billion on April 5, Fed data released on Thursday showed. Loans via the newly created Bank Term Funding Program moved to $71.8 billion, from the...

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Friday it remains possible the U.S. central bank raises interest rates more than it currently expects next year, adding that he’s not expecting the economy to fall into recession as Fed policy-makers press forward with action to tame unacceptably high inflation. “We’re going to have to do what’s necessary” to get inflation back to the Fed’s 2 per cent target, Mr. Williams said in an interview on Bloomberg’s television channel. He said...