Federal Reserve officials kept their options open for the next move in interest rates in their latest meeting as they weighed “significant uncertainties” over the US and global economic outlook.

Minutes to the latest Fed meeting in March indicated a high degree of uncertainty over the policy prospects, with some officials stressing their outlook could “shift in either direction” as they seek to determine whether a weak bout of growth will persist.

After raising interest rates four times last year, the US central bank executed a sharp shift in direction in early 2019, shelving prior plans for further rate rises as it moved to a “patient” stance. President Donald Trump’s willingness to trample over the Fed’s independence with calls for it to cut rates and restart quantitative easing are only adding to the complex outlook policymakers now need to navigate.