Fed minutes show officials wary of April rate hike

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers were split at their last meeting over how to respond to a slowing global economy, with two officials supporting a rate hike in March even as an opposing group felt that even raising rates in April would be too soon.

Minutes of the Fed's March 15-16 meeting released Wednesday showed that several participants argued for "proceeding cautiously" with future rate hikes because of global risks such as weaker growth in China.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that the minutes showed a clear split inside the Fed over two main issues: how fast inflation will rise to the Fed's 2 percent target and how much the overall economy will be hurt by global weakness.

While some Fed officials in remarks since the March meeting have signaled that they could be ready to hike rates in April, Yellen in a speech last week sent a clear signal that she will not likely be ready to resume raising rates when the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee next meets on April 26-27.