U.S. Federal Reserve officials widely agreed last month the economy was nearing the point where interest rates should move higher, but worried lagging inflation and a weak global economy posed too big a risk to commit to “liftoff.” Only one Fed policymaker was ready to vote for a rate hike at the central bank’s July 28-29 policy meeting, while some others “viewed the economic conditions for beginning to increase the target range for the federal funds rate as having been met or were confident that they would be met shortly,” according to minutes from the meeting released on Wednesday. “Most judged that the conditions for policy firming had not yet been achieved, but they noted that conditions were approaching that point,” the minutes said. That sentiment, combined with a broader recognition among “many members” that full employment was close, led the Fed to say in its post-meeting statement that […]