Fed officials forecast interest rates to remain elevated

Federal Reserve

Federal Reserve officials expected the interest rates to remain elevated for "some time" until there is clear evidence that consumer prices fall.

Minutes from the US central bank's Dec. 13-14 meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers plan to wrestle inflation closer to their 2% goal, even if it means higher unemployment and slower economic growth.

"Participants generally observed that a restrictive policy stance would need to be maintained until the incoming data provided confidence that inflation was on a sustained downward path to 2 percent, which was likely to take some time," the minutes said.

The Fed raised the interest rate 50 basis points (bps) in December, after four-straight hikes of 75 bps.

The officials predict the Fed to increase the interest rate to 5.1% this year, compared with the current range of 4.25-4.5%.