Fed Official Saw Rate Cut as 'a Close Call'

Most Federal Reserve officials viewed the decision to cut the benchmark interest rate as "a close call" in April, signaling they may hold off from further reductions.

"The risks to growth were now thought to be more closely balanced by the risks to inflation," minutes of the April 29-30 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, released in Washington yesterday, said. Several policy makers judged "it was unlikely to be appropriate" to lower rates further unless data indicated a "significant weakening" in the outlook.

Stocks tumbled after the report stoked speculation Chairman Bernanke and his colleagues are finished lowering borrowing costs as the threat of inflation rises.