Fed Officials Split on Interest Rate Hikes Amid Inflation Concerns

The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at its July 28 and 29 meeting, but the decision exposed one of the biggest policy disagreements in years.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9 to 3 to leave the benchmark federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, marking the fifth straight meeting where rates were left unchanged.

The surprise was the number of officials who opposed the decision, with three senior policymakers arguing that the Fed should have raised interest rates immediately to stop inflation from becoming harder to control.

Milwaukee Fed President Neel Kashkari, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan all voted in favor of a 0.25 percentage point rate increase, citing concerns that inflation remains too high and waiting longer could force the central bank to take tougher action later.