Fed officials discussed possible rate hike 'fairly soon'
Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the "fairly soon" phrase in the minutes "clearly leaves the door open to a March rate hike although ... we still think the Fed will delay until June."
The minutes showed that a couple of Fed officials suggested the central bank might need to alter the wording of its policy statement because currently the Fed's assurances that it planned to raise rates at a "gradual" pace could be "misunderstood as a commitment of only one or two rate hikes per year."
"Most participants continued to see heightened uncertainty regarding the size, composition and timing of possible changes" to the government tax and spending policies, the minutes said.
At the February meeting, the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged while noting that the economy was continuing to advance toward its twin objectives of maximum employment and inflation rising at a moderate annual rate of 2 percent.
The Fed noted that even with the two small rate hikes, the Fed's target for its benchmark federal funds rate — the interest that banks charge each other — remained at a historically low level.