At the same time, oil prices have risen over the last few months, trading currently at around $65 a barrel.
“The headline inflation could receive a modest boost and the Committee will likely see that outcome as supporting inflation expectations,” the bank said.
At the start of the month, Reuters reported that traders were expecting two rate increases in 2018.
However, Charles Evans, Chicago’s Federal Reserve Bank president, said last week that the central bank should wait until mid-2018 to consider another increase in interest rates.
Evans, who voted against the last rate increase decision, believes that the tax cuts and a strong labor market aren’t enough to drive inflation to the central bank’s target at least until late 2019, Reuters reported.
The minutes from the December meeting showed a division among central bankers about their plan for 2018. Six of the 16 officials said in December that the Fed would raise rates three times in 2018, but six others pointed out that there would be two hikes or fewer.
