US Fed Policy: FOMC votes unanimously to keep key rates unchanged at 5.25-5.5% for second straight meeting
US Federal Reserve announced its interest rate decision today after a two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and left the benchmark interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent - 5.50 per cent. The Fed's decision to keep its benchmark lending rate between 5.25 percent and 5.50 percent gives policymakers time to "assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy," the central bank said in a statement.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell-led FOMC was widely expected to keep the interest rate unchanged after having raised its policy rate by 525 basis points since March 2022 to the current 5.25 per cent-5.50 per cent range, despite persistent US inflation rate levels exceeding the central bank's target range while the US economy remains resilient. The US central bank added that any future decisions on policy firming would "take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, as well as economic and financial developments." The gross domestic product (GDP) of the world's biggest economy expanded at an annualised rate of 4.9 per cent in the third quarter, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) first estimate.
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