Federal Reserve officials are clearly divided on the outlook for monetary policy.

The minutes of the January monetary policy meeting released by the Federal Reserve on the 18th showed that although almost all members of the Federal Open Market Committee of the Fed supported maintaining the benchmark interest rate unchanged at this meeting, there was significant disagreement within the committee about the future direction of monetary policy. At the monetary policy meeting of the Fed held on January 28th, 10 members of the Federal Open Market Committee supported keeping the rate unchanged, while 2 members advocated for a 25 basis point rate cut. The minutes of the meeting showed that several officials believed that further rate cuts would be appropriate if inflation fell as expected. Some officials stated that it would be appropriate to maintain the rate unchanged for a period of time as the Federal Open Market Committee evaluated the latest data. In addition, several officials expressed support for using "two-way" language in the rate forward guidance, reflecting the possibility of a rate hike if inflation remains above target levels. Most officials warned that the process of inflation falling to the 2% target could be "slower and more uneven" than generally expected. The next Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting will be held on March 17th and 18th.