RTR: 'Almost all' Fed officials favored 25bp rate hike at last meeting, minutes show

REUTERS reports:

A solid majority of Federal Reserve officials agreed at their last policy meeting to slow the pace of increases in the U.S. central bank’s benchmark overnight interest rate to a quarter of a percentage point, but also said the risks of high inflation remained a “key factor” shaping monetary policy and warranted continued hikes in borrowing costs until it was controlled.

“Almost all participants agreed that it was appropriate to raise the target range of the federal funds rate 25 basis points,” with many of those saying that would let the Fed better “determine the extent” of future increases, according to the minutes from the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting which were released on Wednesday.

But as well, “participants generally noted that upside risks to the inflation outlook remained a key factor shaping the policy outlook,” and that interest rates would need to move higher and stay elevated “until inflation is clearly on a path to 2%.”

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