Fed banks unanimously voted to keep discount rate unchanged - minutes

All of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional banks wanted to keep unchanged the rate commercial banks are charged for emergency loans ahead of the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting, minutes from the discussion of the discount rate showed on Tuesday.

The Fed kept the discount rate unchanged at 2.25% at its Jan. 28-29 meeting in keeping with its unanimous decision to also leave its benchmark overnight lending rate in a target range of between 1.50% and 1.75%.

The Fed has indicated that it plans to keep rates on hold this year, barring a "material" change in the U.S. economic outlook

That resolve is being tested by the escalating coronavirus outbreak, which poses a risk to global growth.

U.S. stocks fell heavily on Monday and investors have brought forward their expectations of another interest rate cut, to April.

In the minutes, directors of the Fed banks said they "continued to view current economic conditions as favorable and expected economic growth to continue at a moderate pace."

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)