The minutes of Fed meeting indicate, as likely, the interest rate cut in September

• The key interest rate is currently in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest level in the last 23 years

An interest rate cut in the United States in September is increasingly likely, according to the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of Federal Reserve officials in July, writes CNBC.

The "vast majority" of participants at the July 30-31 meeting "noted that if the data continues to be as expected, an easing of policy would likely be appropriate at the next meeting," according to the meeting summary.

Markets are betting on an interest rate cut in September, for the first time since the emergency easing of monetary policy in the early days of the Covid crisis. According to the minutes, at the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC - the Fed's executive arm) in late June, there were opinions that the Fed should not wait until September and start easing monetary policy then.

"Several participants (at the meeting) noted that recent developments in inflation and increases in the unemployment rate provide plausible premises for reducing the target range by 25 basis points at this meeting or that they may support such a decision," according to the document.

According to CNBC, in the language used by the Fed in its minutes, which do not mention names or how many officials had a particular opinion, "several" means a relatively small number. However, the minutes made it clear that US central bank officials are confident about the path of inflation and are ready to start easing monetary policy if the data confirms their expectations, the American publication also writes.

The data mainly covers two aspects - inflation and the labor market.

"Regarding the outlook for inflation, recent data have increased participants' confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards 2%," the minutes state.

"Almost all participants noted that the factors that have contributed to recent disinflation are likely to continue to exert pressure in the coming months." Regarding the labor market, "many" officials noted that "it is possible that the increase in reported jobs is overstated", writes CNBC.

In the middle of this week, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a preliminary revision of labor market data, namely that the number of new jobs for March was 818,000 lower than originally reported.

"Most participants noted that risks to the employment objective have increased, while many participants pointed out that risks to the inflation objective have decreased," according to the minutes, CNBC writes.

The federal funds rate is currently in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest level in 23 years.