The Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes were released Wednesday for the December 12-13 policy meeting, and reveal that the U.S. economy outlook is robust. A quick recap of the December policy meeting: The Federal Reserve opted to increase its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point. It went from 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent. Charles L. Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, were the two Fed officials who voted contrary to the third rate increase of the year.

The minutes

The Fed meeting minutes reveal that policymakers are standing by their view that inflation is going to pick up in the near future. Since the December policy meeting, the $1.5 trillion tax cut was approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump. Policymakers see the new tax cut as something that will help consumer spending. The minutes say that "Most participants indicated that prospective changes in federal tax policy were a factor that led them to boost their projections of real GDP growth over the next couple of years". Since the release of the minutes on Wednesday, the likelihood of an interest rate hike in March has increased. The Fed said that "Most participants reiterated their support for continuing a gradual approach to raising the target range, noting that this approach helped to balance risks to the outlook for economic activity and inflation".