Fed Officials Divided on Interest Rate Strategy

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting show that officials were divided over whether additional interest rate increases would be necessary to control inflation. While the Fed voted unanimously to raise interest rates by a quarter-point earlier this month, "several" policymakers were leaning towards a pause. However, some officials believed that "additional policy firming would likely be warranted at future meetings" since progress on bringing inflation back to the central bank's 2 percent target could continue to be "unacceptably slow." Policymakers also expressed concern over brinkmanship over the nation's debt limit, which could result in a default if not raised by June 1.