All nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep interest rates steady this month though their discussion suggested that some members felt the next move in borrowing costs could be down.
Minutes of the MPC's December 8th and 9th meeting published today showed that policymakers had a wide range of sometimes conflicting news to take in over the month.
"For some members, the news was balanced and no change in interest rates was appropriate. For others, the downside risks to the inflation projection had increased, but not enough to make a persuasive case for a reduction in interest rates," the minutes said.
The BoE held rates steady at 4.75 per cent for the fourth month running earlier in December after having raised them by a total of 125 basis points over the last year.
Economists are now divided over whether the BoE will hike rates again next year but these latest minutes suggest that for some members at least the debate had moved to when rates will fall.
The MPC noted that that there was a greater risk of world economic activity slowing down than it had seen in the November inflation report despite the fall in oil prices.
Consumer price inflation, however, had turned out to be higher than expected in both October and November. "But the appreciation of sterling on the month could help ease price pressures," the minutes said.