Nine Fed banks call for discount rate increase - minutes

The facade of the U.S. Federal Reserve building is reflected on wet marble during the early morning hours in Washington, July 31, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nine regional Federal Reserve banks in October pushed for an increase in the rate commercial banks are charged for emergency loans, minutes from the Fed's Oct. 31 discount rate meeting showed on Tuesday. Three regional Fed banks thought the discount rate should stay steady at 1 percent, a view that was supported by the Fed's Board of Governors which sets the rate and opted to hold it steady at the Oct. 31 meeting. The number of regional Fed banks pushing for a quarter-point hike was unchanged from the Fed's Sept 19 discount rate meeting, which was the last review for which the Fed published minutes. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)