Fed Minutes Shows Possibility Of Rate Hike Instead Of Rate Cut

As per minutes released by Fed, possibility that upward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation remains at above-target levels.

Federal Reserve officials signaled renewed worries over inflation with several policymakers suggesting that the central bank may have to raise interest rates in an attempt to curb inflation. 

“Several participants indicated that they would have supported a two-sided description of the Committee’s future interest rate decisions, reflecting the possibility that upward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation remains at above-target levels,” according to the released record of Federal Reserve’s January meeting showed. 

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 27-28 meeting released Wednesday further stated that several participants cautioned that easing policy further in the context of elevated inflation readings could be misinterpreted as implying diminished policymaker commitment to the 2 percent inflation objective, perhaps making higher inflation more entrenched. 

The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged in the first FOMC meeting of 2026. 

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