Fed sees interest rate hikes continuing until inflation eases substantially, minutes show

cnbc.com:

Federal Reserve officials at their July meeting indicated they likely would not consider pulling back on interest rate hikes until inflation came down substantially, according to minutes from the session released Wednesday.

During a meeting in which the central bank approved a 0.75 percentage point rate hike, policymakers expressed resolve to bring down inflation that is running well above the Fed's desired 2% level.

They did not provide specific guidance for future increases and said they would be watching data closely before making that decision. Market pricing is for a half-point rate hike at the September meeting, though that remains a close call.

Meeting participants noted that the 2.25%-2.50% range for the federal funds rate was around the «neutral» level that is neither supportive nor restrictive on activity. Some officials said a restrictive stance likely will be appropriate, indicating more rate hikes to come.

«With inflation remaining well above the Committee's objective, participants judged that moving to a restrictive stance of policy was required to meet the Committee's legislative mandate to promote maximum employment and price stability,» the minutes said.

The document also reflected the idea that once the Fed gets comfortable with its policy stance and sees it having an impact on inflation, it could start to take its foot off the policy brake. That notion has helped push stocks into a strong summer rally.

«Participants judged that, as the stance of monetary policy tightened further, it likely would become appropriate at some point to slow the pace of policy rate increases while assessing the effects of cumulative policy adjustments on economic activity and inflation,» the minutes said.

However, the