Worries the global fallout from Asian financial upheaval will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates this week even as officials keep their guard up over tight labour markets and inflation risks at home, economists predict.

The US central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee gathers today to discuss interest rates. The FOMC last raised rates on March 25th when it boosted the federal funds overnight lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 5.5 per cent.

A poll of 24 economists showed unanimous expectations for unchanged interest rates. Most experts also saw the Fed staying on hold at its last gathering of the year on December 16th, with just two economists forecasting a quarter-point tightening.

"It is quite clear that if the Asian crisis had not materialised, the Fed would be debating very seriously about tightening monetary policy," said Mr Roger Kubarych, a former New York Fed economist, who is general manager at Kaufman and Kubarych Advisers in New York.