The Federal Reserve'​s "Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, May 2-​3, 2017" says, "Members generally judged that it would be prudent to await additional evidence indicating that the recent slowing in the pace of economic activity had been transitory before taking another step in removing accommodation.... Members expected that economic conditions would evolve in a manner that would warrant gradual increases in the federal funds rate. Members agreed that the federal funds rate was likely to remain, for some time, below levels that they expected to prevail in the longer run. However, they noted that the actual path of the federal funds rate would depend on the economic outlook as informed by incoming data." The FOMC'​s next meeting is June 13-​14 and markets are estimating the odds of an increase at about 80%. See also, The Wall Street Journal'​s "Fed Minutes Signal Officials Ready to Raise Rates Again Soon." The article says, "Federal Reserve officials expected at their policy meeting this month that it would "​soon be appropriate" to raise short-​term interest rates, a signal the U.​S. central bank could move in June at its next gathering. The Fed also moved toward a consensus on a proposal to start gradually shrinking its $​4.​5 trillion in holdings of Treasury and mortgage securities later in the year, according to minutes of the gathering released Wednesday. Under the approach discussed, they would allow increasing amounts of those securities to mature over time, without reinvesting the proceeds. Fed officials left their benchmark short-​term interest rates unchanged within a range between 0.​75% and 1% at the meeting May 2-​3. Several Fed officials in recent weeks have said they believe the economy will still be strong enough to warrant two more quarter-​percentage-​point rate increases this year."

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