Fed Minutes: Global Economy Poses Biggest Risk to U.S.

Federal Reserve policy-makers discussed various risks to the U.S. economy at their December meeting, but concluded that the big drop in oil prices was likely to end up boosting growth. Minutes of the Fed's December 16th-17th meeting, released Wednesday, show that Fed officials believed weakness in the global economy posed some of the biggest downside risks, particularly if it caused turmoil in global financial markets. The minutes showed Fed officials were concerned about over-reaction in markets to changes in their guidance about future rate hikes and decided to declare their view that the central bank intended to be 'patient' in moving toward a rate hike. Many economists believe that the Fed will not start raising rates until June and might even wait longer if inflation remains persistently below its 2% target.