Fed ready to hike rates 'fairly soon'

January minutes reveal hawkish stance

Federal Reserve policymakers have said they are ready to lift interest rates again "fairly soon", minutes from January's meeting have revealed, as the impact of President Donald Trump's new policies were assessed.

In the first meeting since Trump's election, rates were unchanged following December's hike. However, the minutes revealed a number of members of the Federal Open Market Committee, led by chair Janet Yellen (pictured), argued they should be ready to act again if the US economy showed further signs of strength as a result of the new Administration's lower taxes and regulations, and higher domestic spending, according to the FT. Yellen defies Trump to commit to Fed role until 2018 "Many participants expressed the view that it might be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate again...