According to online reports, Nick Timiraos, the "sounding board of the Federal Reserve", said that minutes of the Federal Reserve's January meeting showed that officials discussed whether to slow or suspend the reduction of its nearly $6.8 trillion asset portfolio at their meeting last month. They are facing complex issues arising from raising the federal debt ceiling in the coming months. Developments related to the debt ceiling could lead to large fluctuations in the Fed's debt. The process of shrinking the balance sheet will eventually drain the banking system's reserves, and Fed officials are not sure how long the process will last. How the Treasury will manage currency market fluctuations triggered by its cash balances could complicate the Fed's ability to determine the right reserve balance. So, according to minutes released Wednesday, officials believed at their January meeting that "it may be appropriate to consider suspending or slowing balance sheet shrinkage until the debt ceiling issue is resolved."