ISTANBUL

Minutes from the Fed's latest meeting showed that some bank officials considered it appropriate to leave the policy rate unchanged for a period of time following a cut in December.

The Fed released the minutes on Tuesday related to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) meeting held on December 9-10.

The minutes of the last meeting, where the policy rate was cut by 25 basis points to the 3.50-3.75% range, as expected by markets, revealed that some officials were cautious about further easing.

The minutes recalled that most Fed officials supported lowering the policy rate at the December meeting, while some preferred to keep it unchanged.

The minutes stated that some of those who supported lowering the policy rate at the meeting indicated that their decisions were based on a delicate balance, noting that these officials could also support keeping the rate unchanged.

The minutes stated: “Those who favored lowering the target range for the federal funds rate generally judged that such a decision was appropriate because downside risks to employment had increased in recent months and upside risks to inflation had diminished since earlier in 2025 or were little changed.”

The minutes indicated that some of these officials believed that lowering the policy rate would be consistent with the expected decline in inflation in the coming quarters, contributing to stronger economic activity in 2026 and helping to stabilize labor market conditions.

The minutes stated: “Those who preferred to keep the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at this meeting expressed concern that progress toward the Committee's 2 percent inflation objective had stalled in 2025 or indicated that they needed to have more confidence that inflation was being brought down sustainably to the Committee's objective.”