The minutes of the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting on January 28-29 will be released on Wednesday (2/19) at 19:00 GMT. Policymakers decided to keep the policy interest rate in the range of 4.25%-4.5% for the first meeting of 2025. However, the central bank removed its previous statement that inflation had "made progress" towards its 2% target, and instead stated that the pace of price increases "remains high."

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted unanimously to keep the policy rate unchanged. The statement showed that officials expressed confidence that progress in reducing inflation is likely to continue later this year, but stressed the need to pause and wait for further data to confirm this outlook.

In a post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that there was no rush to adjust policy.

Commenting on the policy outlook earlier in the week, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said that the economy needs steady policy for now. Likewise, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic noted that the need for patience suggests that the next rate cut could come later to give more time for information. (Newsmaker23)

Source: FXstreet