The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in September partly out of concern that a pause might mislead people into thinking it was too worried about the economic impact of hurricane Katrina.

Minutes of the Sept. 20 closed-door discussions, which were released this afternoon, revealed increased worries among Fed policy-makers about inflation due to sharp rise in the price of gasoline and other energy products following hurricane-related production shutdowns caused by Katrina.

However, the Fed officials said they believed the adverse impact blow to economic growth from Katrina would prove to be temporary.

Because of this view, the Fed expressed concerns that not raising rates at the September meeting would send the wrong signal about the central bank’s view of the underlying soundness of the economy.

“A pause in policy tightening at this meeting had the potential to mislead the public both about the committee’s perceptions of the fundamental strength and resilience of the economy and about its commitment to fostering price stability,” the minutes stated.