Federal Reserve minutes indicate further interest rate cuts are unlikely

Most Federal Reserve officials viewed the decision to cut the benchmark interest rate as "a close call" in April, signaling that further cuts are unlikely.

"The risks to growth were now thought to be more closely balanced by the risks to inflation," said minutes released Wednesday of the April 29-30 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Several policymakers said "it was unlikely to be appropriate" to lower rates further unless data indicated a "significant weakening" in the outlook.

Questions about whether to lower the rate last month came even as officials cut their 2008 growth estimate by almost 1 percentage point.

"The Fed is wary about the economy, but cautious to act due to high inflation," said Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.

Investors anticipate that officials will keep the rate at 2% when they next meet in June.

Fed officials lowered their 2008 economic growth outlook to a range of 0.3% to 1.2% from a January forecast of 1.3% to 2%.

The group raised its expectations for inflation, excluding food and energy, to a range of 2.2% to 2.4% this year, from 2% to 2.2%.