The number of Federal Reserve policymakers willing to consider an interest rate hike this year rose between the January and March meetings, as higher gas prices stemming from the Iran war threatened to worsen inflation in the coming months.
Minutes of the Fed's March 17-18 meeting, released Wednesday, showed that “some” of the central bank's 19 policymakers on its rate-setting committee supported changing their post-meeting statement to reflect the potential for a future rate hike. That is an an increase from “several” in January. The Fed doesn't disclose precise numbers of how many officials supported each position, but in Fed jargon, ‘some’ is considered more than ‘several.’
