Fed banks unanimous in keeping discount rate unchanged in July: minutes

Reuters
FILE PHOTO - A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional banks wanted to hold steady the rate commercial banks are charged for emergency loans ahead of the U.S central bank's last policy meeting, minutes from a discussion of the discount rate showed on Tuesday.

The U.S. central bank subsequently held its benchmark lending rate steady at its July 25-26 meeting and kept the discount rate unchanged at 1-3/4 percent.

In wanting to keep the discount rate unchanged, directors of the regional banks cited recent soft readings on inflation.

They wanted to wait "to assess whether incoming data support the current outlook for continued moderate economic growth, some further strengthening in labor market conditions, and a gradual return of inflation to 2 percent over the medium term," the minutes showed.

The Fed raised interest rates for the third time in six months at its June meeting on the strength of the U.S. jobs market and continued economic growth but has stood pat since then.

The central bank still forecasts another interest rate rise this year, although some officials have become increasingly concerned about a series of lackluster inflation readings.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)