Washington

THE Federal Reserve's consensus about when to shrink its balance sheet and how to approach policy strategy in a time of low inflation is starting to fragment.

Fed officials continued to view gradual interest-rate increases as appropriate while starting the process of unwinding their US$4.5 trillion balance sheet this year, minutes from their June 13-14 meeting released in Washington on Wednesday showed. But their debate highlighted divisions over the timing of roll-off and unease at recent weak readings on inflation.