Fed saw smaller hikes ahead to assess prior moves, show July minutes

Pace of future Fed hikes depends on data, no evidence inflation subsiding, July minutes show

Federal Reserve officials judged in July it would eventually be appropriate to decelerate the pace of interest-rate increases while evaluating the effects of their tightening actions to date.

“As the stance of monetary policy tightened further, it likely would become appropriate at some point to slow the pace of policy rate increases while assessing the effects of cumulative policy adjustments on economic activity and inflation,” according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 26-27 meeting released Wednesday in Washington. 

“Many participants remarked that, in view of the constantly changing nature of the economic environment and the existence of