Though asset purchases end, the Fed still will continue to reinvest the funds from the bonds it holds. "Many" participants agreed that ending reinvestments at or after the time of raising rates would be best, with "most" of them preferring to end them "after liftoff."
The minutes reaffirmed the Fed's expectations that a rate hike would not come before mid-2015. The federal funds rate has been at a record low range of zero to 0.25 percent since late 2008.