Some Federal Reserve officials last month believed they would have to hold to an easy monetary policy course beyond this year while a few said the central bank should move to tighter conditions before year-end.

In a similar example of divergent views, some members of the Fed's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee thought the central bank should cut short its $600 billion bond buying program if growth proved more robust or inflation higher, while several others saw no need to make adjustments, according to minutes of the Fed's March 15 meeting.

Minutes of the Fed's March 15 meeting showed officials increasingly concerned about inflation and the possibility an inflationary psychology might take root.

However, they concluded for the most part that higher inflation due to energy and commodity price spikes would be temporary, although they vowed to keep a watchful eye on whether consumers and businesses were beginning to expect higher inflation in the future.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Glenn Somerville)

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