Some Bank of England policymakers were tempted to step up the bank's monetary stimulus programme in August, just a month after agreeing to a £50 billion sterling increase in asset purchases.
This is according to minutes of their policy meeting, which were released today.
The Bank of England slashed its growth outlook for this year to zero last week.
It also sharply downgraded its medium-term forecast as a result of the euro zone crisis and with the global economic slowdown appearing deeper than previously thought.
However, the labour market has performed much more strongly than the rest of the economy - something that was confirmed by separate data today showing a fall in the unemployment rate to its lowest in nearly a year.
Minutes of the August MPC meeting showed that all nine members voted to maintain the quantitative easing - essentially bond buying - target at the £375 billion level agreed in July, but for some policymakers this decision was "finely balanced" and there was a good case for more.
This view contrasts with the message from the central bank's governor, Mervyn King, last week. He said there was no urgent need to print more money beyond what it had already announced.
The minutes did not show any discussion of a cut to the Bank of England's main interest rate.
Today's minutes show that the majority of the MPC appeared to share King's view that there was no need for more stimulus soon. They wanted more time to assess the impact of the Bank of England's new Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) to boost bank credit, which started on August 1, as this could help the economy more than the central bank assumed in its August forecasts.
"For most members, the decision this month was relatively straightforward. Over the coming months, the committee could take stock of the impact of the FLS and the implications this had for other potential policy options," the minutes said.
"For some members, the decision was nevertheless more finely balanced, since a good case could be made at this meeting for more asset purchases," they continued.
Last week the Bank of England slashed its growth outlook for this year to zero and sharply downgraded its medium-term forecast as euro zone "storm clouds" cast a long shadow and scars from the global financial crisis appeared deeper than previously thought.
However, it cut its inflation forecast more modestly, concerned that the productive capacity of Britain's economy might have suffered lasting damage.
The minutes broadly reflected this assessment. They said that inflation was likely to fall close to its 2% target in the short term, and that third quarter growth would be weak, aside from a temporary boost from the Olympics and the fading of one-off factors depressing growth in the second quarter.
