The Federal Reserve could raise US interest rates sooner than investors anticipate in an effort to keep rising inflation in check, according to minutes of the central bank's last meeting released on Tuesday. ( dpa )
The US central bank said that while it expected economic growth to remain "damped for several quarters," there were also "significant concerns" about rising prices, as companies were apparently succeeding in passing on higher energy costs to consumers.
"A number of participants worried about the possibility that core inflation might fail to moderate next year unless the stance of monetary policy was tightened sooner than currently anticipated by financial markets," the Fed minutes read.
The Fed kept its benchmark federal funds rate steady at 2 per cent at its last meeting on August 5. Board members would not say when they planned an interest rate hike, which would be the first since June 2006.
"Although members generally anticipated that the next policy move would likely be a tightening, the timing and extent of any change in policy stance would depend on evolving economic financial developments and the implications for the outlook for economic growth and inflation," the Fed said.
The Fed's next meeting is on September 16.