New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- The US Federal Reserve's 12-member rate-setting committee voted unanimously to hike its policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point and signalled the likelihood of a similar upmove later.

No relief from inflation amid firm economic growth and rising geopolitical tensions had made tighter credit in America a foregone conclusion, but it was widely seen as a test of Fed independence, given President Donald Trump's repeated public calls for rate cuts, the very opposite.

On this subject, Trump's appointed Fed chair Kevin Warsh had this to say: "Part of the independence of the Federal Reserve is we stay in our lane. Independence is a two-way street. We will let people that do trade policy and fiscal policy stay in th...