Fed Minutes Reveal a Divide on Easing

The Federal Reserve appears open to the idea of a third round of bond purchases to boost a still-modest recovery. But members remain divided over when or whether to take that step.

The Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC.

Minutes of the Fed’s  Jan. 24-25 meeting show that some Fed officials thought such bond purchases should begin soon because unemployment remains high and inflation low.

U.S. stock markets held their sharp losses on Wednesday following the minutes release.

Others said such a step should be taken only if the economy weakened further or if inflation stayed below the Fed’s target rate of 2 percent.

The debate took place at a meeting in which the Fed decided to hold its benchmark interest rate at record lows until at least late 2014. One Fed official argued that the central bank might need to consider abandoning that plan to keep inflation low.

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