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The Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, holds eight regularly scheduled meetings during the year, which are widely followed by investors. The minutes from these meetings are released a few weeks after the meeting and are parsed for clues about future monetary policy. This month was no exception.

Minutes from the May FOMC meeting showed that central bankers were cautious over a lack of progress in bringing down inflation. The summary of the meeting stated, “Participants observed that while inflation had eased over the past year, in recent months, there had been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent objective.”

What sent waves through markets was the note that “Various participants mentioned a willingness to tighten policy further should risks to inflation materialize in a way that such an action became appropriate.”

While some participants noted that the uptick in inflation may have been seasonal, others cited the impact of geopolitical events and noted the pressure that inflation was having on consumers, particularly those on the lower end of the wage scale.

The current benchmark short-term borrowing rate remains at a 23-year high, in a range of 5.25%-5.5%.