US Federal Reserve minutes revealed it believed the economy could have coped with an interest rate rise.
But policymakers decided it was prudent to wait for evidence a global economic slowdown was not knocking America off course.
The minutes from the September meeting, released on Thursday, showed the Fed's policymaking committee was unsettled by signs of turmoil abroad but did not think this had "materially altered" the outlook for the economy.
However, the members of the Federal Open Markets Committee decided it was "prudent to wait" for more information before raising rate from near zero.
The Fed surprised much of Wall Street by keeping interest rates unchanged at the September meeting.
Some policymakers have since said the decision was a close call, and the minutes showed that most of them still thought it would be appropriate to raise rates "by the end of the year."
- Reuters / BBC
