Fed's regional banks backed steady discount rate: minutes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All 12 of the U.S. Federal Reserve's regional banks supported keeping steady the interest rate commercial banks are charged for emergency loans before the central bank's last policy meeting, records from the discussions showed on Tuesday.

"The directors judged that maintaining the current stance of monetary policy was appropriate and that the FOMC should continue to follow a patient approach" the report said in characterizing the discussion ahead of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee's April 30-May 1 policy meeting.

They unanimously backed keeping the Fed's so-called discount rate at 3%.

At the Fed's rate-setting meeting, policymakers held interest rates steady and signaled little appetite to adjust them any time soon, taking heart in continued job gains and economic growth and the likelihood that weak inflation will edge higher.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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