Several Federal Reserve officials considered forgoing an interest rate rise last month amid the worst banking turmoil since the 2008 crisis, but ultimately decided to press ahead due to persistently high inflation, according to an account of their most recent meeting.
Minutes from the March gathering, at which the US central bank raised its benchmark policy rate by a quarter-point, showed the Fed was chiefly focused on persistent price pressures — even after the recent banking turbulence upended expectations about the trajectory of the economy.
The rate rise, which lifted the federal funds rate to a new target range of 4.75-5 per cent, came on the heels of a trio of bank failures in the US as well as the forced takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.