Fed interest rate hike in April is highly unlikely, minutes show

Fed policy makers signalled an interest-rate hike in April is unlikely, minutes of the March policy meeting showed, confirming market’s growing anticipation that the US central bank will act cautiously until the global economy regains steam. US central bankers, who maintained the benchmark interest rate unchanged in March in a range of 0.25% to 0.5%, discussed the relative strength of the world’s number one economy, which contrasted against persistent global headwinds. They were concerned that slowing world growth could undermine corporate investment plans and hit US exports.

Fed officials expected those risks to subside only slowly. However, it was not a unanimous view. Eight of seventeen officials argued risks to the US economy were tilted to the downside, while nine said risks were balanced and none saw much likelihood that economic output would overshoot their estimates. Some officials said that the US was at or near full employment with inflation starting to climb. Only two officials wanted to raise rates at the March meeting, according to the minutes.

Policy makers had signalled at the close of March meeting that they expected to hike interest rates twice in 2016 but the timing of the hikes still remains up in the air. The Fed’s next meeting is April 26- 27.