WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is not sounding as if it is ready to raise its benchmark interest rate in June.
Fed officials at their most recent policy-making meeting in January worried that economic growth remained fragile, and that raising rates prematurely could undermine recent gains, according to an official account released Wednesday.
The account also acknowledged greater concerns about the sluggish pace of inflation than the Fed had disclosed previously.
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The January meeting account, however, hit a cautionary note.
“Many participants regarded dropping the ‘patient’ language in the statement, whenever that might occur, as risking a shift in market expectations for the beginning of policy firming toward an unduly narrow range of dates,” the minutes noted. “As a result, some expressed the concern that financial markets might overreact, resulting in undesirably tight financial conditions.”