Fed minutes may show inflation confidence, talks on balance sheet

New York

POLICY discussions when the Federal Reserve last met may show greater confidence in the inflation outlook and a debate over options for winding down the US central bank's massive bond portfolio, feeding discussions over the timing of the next interest-rate increase.

The record of the Jan 31-Feb 1 meeting, at which officials voted to leave the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent, is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.