According to the minutes released on Wednesday, Federal Reserve officials expressed considerable uncertainty regarding the U.S. economy’s outlook last month.

They indicated that they would exercise caution in determining whether to raise their benchmark interest rate further.

Such cautious sentiments typically suggest that the Fed may not be inclined to raise rates in the immediate future. Their upcoming meeting is just three weeks away.

The minutes from the meeting held on September 19-20 highlighted that economic data from the past few months “generally indicated a slowdown in inflation.”

Policymakers emphasized the need for additional evidence of declining inflation to ensure it would align with the Fed’s 2% target, the Associated Press reported.

Several among the 19 policymakers noted that with the Fed’s key rate likely reaching or nearing its peak, the focus of their policy decisions should shift from considering how high to raise the policy rate to determining how long it should be maintained at levels that could have restrictive economic effects.

Written by staff