Entrenched inflation a "significant risk" to U.S. economy, say Fed officials

LONDON, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Senior Federal Reserve officials have warned that the entrenched inflation poses a "significant risk" to the U.S. economy and feared tighter monetary policy may be needed if prices rise more than expected, British newspaper Financial Times has reported.

According to the minutes of the U.S. central bank's meeting in June, policymakers are now willing to raise interest rates to levels where economic activity may be restrained, and they might become "even more restrictive" when supported by data, said the report published on Wednesday.

The minutes showed that most participants noted "the risks to the outlook were 'skewed to the downside' given the possibility that further tightening could weigh on activity," said the report.

The report said the Fed would decide at its July meeting whether to raise rates by 0.5 percentage points or 0.75 percentage points, and several officials have voiced support for a bigger raise.