The "vast majority" of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policymakers indicated it might be appropriate to start lowering the benchmark interest rate next month should progress on inflation continue, the minutes of the central bank's monetary policy meeting last month showed Wednesday. The Fed released the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on July 30-31. At the meeting, the bank held its key rate at the 5.25 to 5.50 percent range for an eighth consecutive time, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said a rate cut could be "on the table" as soon as September. "The vast majority observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting," the minutes read. The next FOMC meeting is set to take place on Sept. 17-18. The U.S. key rate has remained unchanged since a quarter percentage point increase to the current level in July last year. Before the freeze, the Fed carried out an aggressive rate-hiking campaign launched in Marc h 2022 to bring down inflation. Source: Yonhap News Agency