Washington – Federal Reserve policymakers saw economic threats from the housing slump lessening but continued to worry about inflation as they decided last month to leave interest rates intact.
According to minutes released Wednesday, Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues believed that while the slowdown in housing continued to pose a threat to the overall economy, those risks had “diminished somewhat.” The central bank still believed the greatest threat would occur if policymakers did not succeed in reducing inflation pressures.
“All members agreed that the predominant concern remained the risk that inflation would fail to moderate as desired,” the minutes of the discussion concluded.
The Fed at the January meeting left the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge one another, unchanged at 5.25 percent.
It marked the fifth straight meeting that rates have not been altered since the Fed’s last rate hike in June.
