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LEAD: Fed carries out 15th rate hike, eyes further increase ahead+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, March 28_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING INFO) The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its key short-term target rate by 0.25 percentage point to 4.75 percent Tuesday, its 15th straight hike, sending it to the highest level since April 2001 and indicating its readiness for further action to fend off inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee "judges that that some further policy firming may be needed to keep the risks of the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stability roughly in balance," the Fed said in a statement issued after a two-day meeting of the policy-setting panel. The widely expected step also represented the 15th 0.25 point hike in the target for the federal funds rate since June 20, 2004, when the U.S. central bank raised it to 1.25 percent from a 46-year low of 1.00. The first FOMC meeting led by new Fed Board Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that he inherited the inflation-fighting policy from his predecessor Alan Greenspan, who retired in January. Many private economists expect the central bank to raise the target rate for one or two more times before ending its credit-tightening campaign. |