Economics
Fed Leans Toward Faster Rate Hikes as Trade War Poses Risks
- ‘Number of participants’ saw slightly steeper rate path
- ‘Strong majority’ saw prospect of trade war as downside risk
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Federal Reserve officials leaned toward a slightly faster pace of policy tightening at their March meeting as their growth outlook and confidence in hitting their inflation target strengthened, according to minutes of the gathering released Wednesday.
A number of officials viewed a stronger economic outlook and greater confidence for higher inflation implying “the appropriate path for the federal funds rate over the next few years would likely be slightly steeper than they had previously expected,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in the records of its March 20-21 meeting.