Fed officials were split over whether to raise US interest rates in June during the last policy setting meeting; some expect it later this year, others suggest it will happen only in 2016.
Recent economic data, including the March jobs report released earlier this month, suggest the US economy has been cooling, due in part to a strengthening dollar and severe winter.
Federal Reserve policy makers were divided over whether to hike US interest rates in June, according to minutes of the March 17-18 Federal Open Market Committee session released Wednesday in Washington.
Some officials suggested that a June liftoff was likely, while others said conditions would not warrant a rate hike until later in the year, with some suggesting it would not happen until 2016.
The US dollar’s recent strength was also a concern among officials, who acknowledged US economic growth had “moderated somewhat” in the first quarter, along with a slowdown in household spending.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said in remarks on Wednesday at a New York event that there are strong arguments for the central bank to be “conservative” on future rate increases, to be raising rates “on the late side”.
Fed’s Governor Jerome Powell said the understated amount of slack in the labour market points to a fairly gradual tightening policy, which could begin as soon as June, according to a speech he delivered in New York on Wednesday.
Last month, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said interest rates will probably be raised in 2015, but the pace of increases will be gradual, depending on economic conditions.
The Fed, which has kept the federal funds rate at zero since December 2008, ditched its pledge to be “patient” in their meeting last month, signalling that a hike may occur as early as June.
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