WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Federal Reserve is watching the Brexit process "very carefully" but the US economy would feel the disruptions from a hard exit, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday (Jan 31).

While he said the expectation is the impact would not be "material" to the US economy, it was hard to know since the situation is unprecedented.

"We've been monitoring the Brexit situation very carefully for a long time," Mr Powell told a news conference.

A hard Brexit "would very likely involve disruptions.... And we would feel that."