Fed unlikely to cut interest rates this year

WASHINGTON, D.C: US central bankers do not expect it will be "appropriate" to start cutting interest rates this year with inflation remaining high, according to minutes of the latest Federal Reserve (Fed) policy meeting released on Wednesday.

The Fed has waged an all-out campaign to cool the world's biggest economy as inflation surged to a 40-year high last year, raising the benchmark lending rate seven times to ease demand.