WASHINGTON — Federal safety net officials at their conference Dec. 17-18 expected to dial back the pace of profit rate cuts this year in the face of persistently elevated worth rise and the threat of widespread tariffs and other potential policy changes.

Minutes from the conference, released after the typical three-week lag, also showed obvious division among the Fed’s 19 policymakers. Some officials expressed back for keeping the central financial institution’s key rate unchanged, the minutes said. And a majority of the officials said the selection to cut rates was a close call.

Ultimately, the Fed choose to cut its key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.3%. One official, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, dissented in favor of keeping rates unchanged.

Still, there was widespread agreement in the minutes that after reducing rates for three straight meetings, Fed officials felt it was period to undertake a more deliberate way to their key rate.

Fewer rate cuts will likely cruel that borrowing costs for consumers and businesses — including for homes, cars, and financing cards — will remain elevated this year.

Policymakers said that the Fed “was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to leisurely the pace of policy easing,” the minutes said. In projections released after the conference, Fed officials said they expect just two cuts next year, down from an earlier projection of four.

Fed officials sent distribute markets plummeting Dec. 18 after they reduced their outlook for rate cuts. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a information conference after the conference that the selection to reduce rates had been a “close call.”

Powell also said that recent signs of stubborn worth rise have caused many Fed officials to pare back their expectations for rate cuts. worth rise, according to the Fed’s preferred assess, ticked up to 2.4% in November, compared with a year ago, above the Fed’s target. Excluding the volatile food and vigor categories, it was 2.8%.

In addition, some officials have started to consider the potential impact of President-elect Trump’s proposals, such as widespread tariffs, on the economy and worth rise next year, the minutes said.

Economists at Goldman Sachs, for example, have estimated that Trump’s tariff proposals could push worth rise by nearly a half-percentage point later this year.

Earlier Wednesday, Fed governor Christopher Waller said that he still supported rate reductions this year, in part because he expects worth rise to steadily head down to the Fed’s 2% target. He also said he didn’t expect tariffs would deteriorate worth rise and wouldn’t transformation his preference for lowering borrowing costs.

Waller also said, in a question and respond session, that he didn’t ponder Trump would ultimately impose the universal tariffs he promised in the campaign.