The meeting of the Fed's policy-making body marked the third time in a row that the central bank has passed up an opportunity to raise short-term interest rates.

It also emphasizes the preeminence of the party as policy-making body and makes the government subordinate to it.

The Fed's policy-making body voted unanimously in February to leave credit policy unchanged, the meeting's minutes show.

(No change in interest-rate policy is expected when the Fed's policy-making body meets tomorrow.)

The Fed's policy-making body meets on Tuesday.

Ultimately, the succession was not altered, but James was convinced to withdraw from all policy-making bodies and to accept a lesser role in his brother's government.

On Tuesday, the Fed's policy-making body, the Open Market Committee, met in Washington.

Until last March, the Fed's policy-making body, the Federal Open Market Committee, had favored a bias toward lower rates to stimulate the economy.

In a final burst of activity, he amended the meeting's concluding resolution on foreign relations to reflect his conviction that imperial conferences were consultative not policy-making bodies.

The officials, however, gave no direct indication of whether they were more likely to raise interest rates when the Fed's policy-making body meets next on Sept. 30.