Fed Has No Plan to Raise Interest Rates Anytime Soon
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve is keeping a close eye on the slowdown in the overall global economy as it weighs raising record-low interest rates, according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting from mid-December that were released Wednesday.
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated that the overnight rates banks charge one another, which is at or near zero percent, won’t be raised until at least April, a view also shared by the committee that will meet again later this month and in March.
Some economists predict an interest rate hike won’t come until June at the earliest.
Much of their decision will depend on how the world’s economies are affected by the falling price of crude oil and continued glut of supply as OPEC worries that any cutback at this stage would improve the fortunes of other global suppliers, including the U.S.
But as much as crude’s sharp drop in cost worries other countries, the Fed, for now, sees it as a boon to U.S. consumers who have more money to spend, thanks to much lower prices at the pump.
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