The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets again this Tuesday and Wednesday to decide the fate of its target interest rate, currently set at the range of zero to 0.25 percent. There is very little concern that the Fed will raise its rates this week, as the economy continues to teeter. Here’s what committee members have been saying recently according to Reuters:

• NEW YORK FED PRESIDENT WILLIAM DUDLEY, JULY 29:

 ”Credit availability will be constrained for some time to come, and this will serve to limit the pace of the recovery. “

• SAN FRANCISCO FED PRESIDENT JANET YELLEN, JULY 28:

 ”We glimpse the first solid signs that economic growth may be poised to resume. Indeed, I expect that to happen some time this year … I can assure you that we will act decisively and appropriately to tighten the stance of monetary policy and maintain price stability.”

•  FED CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE, JULY 21:

“Accommodative policies will likely be warranted for an extended period. At some point, however, as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road.”

• ATLANTA FED PRESIDENT DENNIS LOCKHART, JULY 20:

“The recovery will be weak because the economy must make structural adjustments before the healthiest possible rate of growth can be achieved. While this adjustment process is going on in the medium term, I believe inflation and deflation are roughly equal risks and require careful monitoring.”

So will a decision to do nothing affect mortgage interest rates this week? It just might, based on the Fed’s meeting comments.  If the group says it is worried about inflation, rates could rise. If it seems pessimistic about the economy’s next six weeks, rates might drop.