Fed rate hike to come 'fairly soon', minutes show

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - The Federal Reserve's next rate hike can happen "fairly soon" if economic indicators come in line with the bank's expectations.

The minutes from the central bank's Jan.31-Feb.1 meeting showed Wednesday that all 10 members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to keep the Fed's benchmark interest rate unchanged.

But most of them can see a rate hike coming soon.

Many FOMC participants said, "it might be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate again fairly soon” if labor market and inflation figures were “in line with or stronger than their current expectations”.

This was the first Fed meeting since President Donald Trump has taken the office.

While the FOMC still awaits the impact of Trump's policies on American economy, it also warned about risks that may change the Fed's path of raising interest rates.

"... most participants continued to see heightened uncertainty regarding the size, composition, and timing of possible changes to fiscal and other government policies, and about their net effects on the economy," the minutes read.

Fed Governor Jerome H. Powell said earlier Wednesday that the bank may gradually increase its interest rate "as long as the economy continues to behave roughly as expected".

"The Committee [FOMC] has been quite patient, and I believe that has served us well. But risks now seems to me to be more in balance," he said in New York.