Monetary policy The majority of US Federal Reserve decision-makers will support 0.50 percentage point rate hikes in the summer

All U.S. central bank Fed policymakers supported a 0.50 percentage point rate hike at the May interest rate meeting, according to the minutes of the meeting, released on Wednesday.

The Fed decided earlier this month to raise its policy rate by 0.50 percentage points to curb soaring inflation at more than 8 percent. The last time the policy rate was raised so sharply was in 2000.

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It is clear from the minutes of the meeting that “a majority” of the members of the Open Market Committee deciding on monetary policy were of the opinion that an increase in interest rates of 0.50 percentage points would be “likely to be appropriate at the next meeting”.

The next meetings of the central bank will be in June and July.

Minutes according to, all central bank decision-makers supported a “strong commitment and determination” to take the necessary steps to lower inflation.

According to the minutes, policymakers agreed that the Open Market Committee should rapidly move monetary policy towards a “neutral stance” by both raising interest rates and reducing the size of the central bank’s balance sheet.

All participants in the meeting also considered that the US economy is very strong, the labor market is very tight and the rate of inflation is very fast.

Some policymakers estimate that recent macroeconomic figures have already begun to indicate that inflationary pressures “may not worsen”.

U.S. inflation slowed slightly last month. Consumer prices rose by 8.3 per cent in April, compared with 8.5 per cent in March.