Some US Federal Reserve officials signalled they would be prepared to raise interest rates further if inflation became more aggressive, according to a record of their last meeting at the start of May.
“Various participants mentioned a willingness to tighten policy furthershould risks to inflation materialise in a way that such an action became appropriate,” said the minutes of the May 1 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, published on Wednesday.
The prospects of a rate rise have fallen since the vote, after fresh inflation data for past month came in cooler than expected. The minutes capture the extent of concerns among central bank officials at the persistence of inflation in the world’s biggest economy.