File photo of Zhumin, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF. [Photo: baike.com]

A senior executive with the International Monetary Fund has said next year would be a proper time for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Zhu Min, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, said the current economic situation in the US has cleared the way for a rate hike.

"It is natural for the FED to lift the interest rate because the U.S. economy is gradually recovering and low interest rates have resulted in higher risks in the financial market such as the pursuit for high risks and profits and tight liquidity."

The latest U.S. Non-Farm Payroll Report shows employers added 211,000 jobs last month, higher than the expected 200,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate remained at five percent.

FED Chair Janet Yellen said in the past week that the US economy appeared to be strong enough to justify a possible interest rate hike in December.

Zhu Min reassured that the rate hike won't significantly affect currency liquidity and monetary policies of new emerging economies, like China.

"A rate hike will increase business debts and lead to capital flight resulting in negative effects on the capital market. China's national government debt is low, so the possible rate hike will have limited impact on Chinese economy."

The next FED interest rate meeting is set to open on December 15.

The FED has kept the main US interest rate within a target area between zero and a quarter percentage point over the past seven years due to weak economic recovery.