The US central bank left interest rates unchanged at 0.25%-0.5% for a third time this year when it met in April. After the Fed raised rates from near zero for the first time in almost a decade in December, it was expected to hike rates four times this year. The forecast has since been adjusted to just two hikes in 2016. The US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as early as June, according to minutes from its April meeting, with Fed members arguing the risks of a slowdown in the global economy have receded. Yet even as the members have become more bullish about US economic resilience, they remained cautious about raising rates. They voted 11-1 to keep interest rates unchanged for a third time this year at the April meeting. The minutes released on Wednesday listed concerns about the slowing growth of US economy in the first quarter, Britain’s potential exit from the EU and lingering uncertainty over China’s economy. “Since the March FOMC [Federal Open Markets Committee] meeting, foreign financial market conditions eased, on net, and overall risk sentiment appeared to have improved,” the Fed noted in its minutes. Yet concerns about potential risks of a slowing US economy and global markets remain. “Many others indicated that they continued to see downside risks to the outlook either because of concerns that the recent slowdown in domestic spending might persist or because of remaining concerns about the global economic and financial outlook,” according to the minutes. “Some participants noted that global financial markets could be sensitive to the upcoming British referendum on membership in the European Union or to unanticipated developments associated with China’s management of its exchange rate.”
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