The minutes revealed participants expressed a range of views about the restrictiveness of the Fed's current monetary policy stance.

Most participants judged that further rate cuts would likely be appropriate if inflation declined over time as expected, the Fed said.

However, the Fed noted some participants felt it would likely be appropriate to keep rates unchanged for some time following the quarter point rate cut at the December 9-10 meeting.

A few participants observed that leaving rates unchanged would allow policymakers to assess the lagged effects of recent rate cuts while also giving policymakers time to acquire more confidence about inflation returning to 2 percent, the Fed said.

Following the December meeting, the Fed announced its widely expected decision to cut interest rates by another quarter point, matching the rate cuts seen in September and October.

The Fed said it decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.50 to 3.75 percent.

While a majority of Fed officials voted to cut rates by another quarter point, three cast dissenting votes for the first time since 2019.

Fed Governor Stephen Miran preferred lowering rates by 50 basis points, while Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid preferred to leave rates unchanged.

The minutes revealed that a few of the officials who supported cutting rates indicated that the decision was finely balanced or that they could have supported keeping the target range unchanged.

The central bank's summary of economic projections provided after the meeting also showed significant divisions about the outlook for rates.

The forecast for rates at the end of 2026 was unchanged from September at a range of 3.25 to 3.50 percent, suggesting just one more quarter point rate cut next year.

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