Fed Minutes Show Continued Concern About Inflation, Plans to Keep Raising Rates

While acknowledging that inflation is showing some signs of improvement, members of the Federal Reserve nonetheless believe there is a need for continued increases in interest rates this year, minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting released Wednesday show.

The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points at its late January meeting, but “a few participants favoring a 50-basis point increase noted that a larger increase would more quickly bring the target range close to the levels they believed would achieve a sufficiently restrictive stance, taking into account their views of the risks to achieving price stability in a timely way,” the minutes said