Fed officials view another rate hike as 'likely,' meeting minutes show

The majority of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) officials believed another rate hike was on the horizon this year, according to minutes from the panel’s last meeting the central bank released Wednesday. “With regard to the outlook for monetary policy beyond the current meeting, most participants assessed that another increase in the target range for the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate by year end,” the minutes from the Sept. 15-16 meeting noted. At that meeting, the FOMC voted unanimously to raise interest rates by a quarter point, to a range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent, in a bid to rein in persistent inflation. Annual inflation has been above the Fed’s 2 percent target rate for five-plus years. The 12-member committee will gather twice more before the calendar turns to 2027: Oct. 27-28 and Dec. 8-9. Multiple FOMC officials have forecast future rate hikes since the panel’s last meeting, and 16 of 18 central bank officials projected at least one additional rate hike this year in the committee’s quarterly economic projections. “In my base case, further policy adjustments are likely to be needed to ensure inflation comes down to target in a timely fashion,” Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr said last week at the Detroit Economic Club. But two FOMC members, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson and Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams, recently said they may wait for more economic data before supporting another rate hike. During an event last Thursday…