'A number' of Fed officials willing to taper QE as soon as June: meeting minutes

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
While there was no consensus among Federal Reserve officials on when the central bank could begin to slow down asset purchases,a "number" of central bank officials were willing to taper as soon as their next meeting in June, according to the minutes of their April 30-May 1 meeting released Wednesday
On the other hand, a "couple" of Fed officials said the Fed might have to ease more if inflation fell further
One Fed official wanted to stop the bond purchases immediately, while another wanted to increase the size of the program
Fed Chief Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier that the central bank could begin to taper the asset purchases in "the next few meetings" if the data continues to improve
The minutes also revealed the Fed started a review of their exit strategy principles last released to the public in 2011
 The officials decided that "the broad principles" were still valid but the central bank was likely to need greater flexibility in the details
No decisions were made and Bernanke asked the staff to do more work on the issue for the policymakers to review in the future