Federal Reserve officials at their recent meeting debated the conditions under which they might begin to scale back the central bank’s massive bond-buying program, according to minutes released Wednesday. The discussions, held at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in late October, centered on various economic indicators that would signal sufficient progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability.

The minutes revealed a nuanced discussion among committee members regarding the appropriate timing and pace of tapering the asset purchase program, currently set at $85 billion per month. Some members emphasized the importance of seeing further improvement in the labor market before reducing the pace of purchases, while others highlighted concerns about the potential risks and costs associated with maintaining the program for too long.

Specifically, the minutes stated, “Many participants expected that the data would provide more clarity on the economic outlook over the next several meetings.” This suggests that the Fed is unlikely to make any immediate changes to its policy stance and will instead wait for further economic data to assess the strength of the recovery.

However, the minutes also indicated that officials are actively considering alternative strategies for communicating their intentions to the public, aiming to avoid a repeat of the market volatility that followed Chairman Bernanke’s comments about tapering earlier in the year. The committee reiterated that any decision to reduce the pace of asset purchases would be data-dependent and would not necessarily imply a tightening of monetary policy.

The minutes also touched on the ongoing debate about the appropriate level of inflation. While most members agreed that inflation remained below the Fed’s 2 percent target, there were differing views on the extent to which this was a cause for concern. Some members expressed confidence that inflation would gradually rise back to the target as the economy continued to recover, while others worried that persistently low inflation could pose a risk to the recovery.

In conclusion, the Fed minutes provided a glimpse into the ongoing debate among policymakers about the future of monetary policy. While no firm decisions were made, the minutes suggest that the Fed is actively preparing for the eventual tapering of its asset purchase program, but that the timing and pace of any such move will depend on the evolution of the economic outlook.