Warsh vows not to 'waver' on inflation as divided Fed leaves rates unchanged

WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday (Jul 29), a choice that may intensify questions about how US central bank chief Kevin Warsh will deliver on his commitment to bring inflation back down to the 2 per cent target.The widely expected decision to leave the benchmark interest rate in the 3.50-3.75 per cent range drew dissents from three of the 12 members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee who "preferred" a quarter-percentage-point hike at this meeting. Those same three officials — the presidents of the Fed's Cleveland, Dallas and Minneapolis regional banks — had also dissented at Jerome Powell's final meeting as central bank chief in late April. In that case, they favoured removing the implied promise of lower rates in the policy statements