The Federal Reserve still isn’t sure about a September rate rise.
Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting showed mixed feelings about a potential rate rise next month, reports the Wall Street Journal. The central bank is still iffy on whether the economy is much closer to meeting the conditions for a rate rise. With the recent changes in China, some officials are concerned that a move would be premature and will only hurt the economy.
“Some participants expressed the view that the incoming information had not yet provided grounds for reasonable confidence that inflation would move back to 2 percent over the medium term and that the inflation outlook thus might not soon meet one of the conditions established by the [Fed] for initiating a firming of policy,” the minutes said.
More information is needed for what is shaping up to be a big debate in September. The Fed has promised that rates will rise in 2015, whether or not they do in September.
Stocks cut their losses soon after the Fed minutes were released. Energy prices are still low, but U.S. stocks are riding out the low interest rates as long as possible.
Photo: Brookings Institute