Federal Reserve policymakers debated last month whether an interest rate hike would be needed in April though a consensus emerged that risks from a global economic slowdown warranted a cautious approach, Reuters reported. "Many participants expressed a view that the global economic and financial situation still posed appreciable downside risks," according to the minutes from the Fed's March 15-16 policy meeting released on Wednesday. Policymakers had signaled at the close of that meeting that they expected to raise rates twice in 2016 but the timing of the hikes still appears up in the air.
