September’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to hold interest rates unchanged was a “close call” and some policymakers thought a move could be merited relatively soon, minutes to the meeting revealed yesterday.
Officials were largely agreed that the case for a rise in short-term rates had strengthened in the weeks leading up to the September 20-21 meeting, with a number of policymakers seeking to signal that move could happen within months if the economy stayed on track.
“Some participants believed that it would be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate relatively soon if the labour market continued to improve and economic activity strengthened,” the minutes said. On the other hand, “some others preferred to wait for more convincing evidence that inflation was moving toward the committee’s 2 per cent objective”.