USA: The Fed has not raised interest rates for the first time since March 2022

USA: The Fed has not raised interest rates for the first time since March 2022

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The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US central bank (Fed) decided unanimously on Wednesday that it will not raise interest rates for the first time since March 2022 and will give it time to assess the US economic situation.

However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned at a press conference after the two-day FOMC meeting that it was too early to say whether inflation would continue to fall.

Growth in consumer prices in the US, which still reached 4.9 percent in April, slowed down significantly in May and amounted to 4 percent. This was the lowest level since March 2021; inflation is now two times lower than in June 2022, when it peaked at 9.1 percent.

“Retaining the (interest rate) target at current levels at this meeting will allow the committee to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy,” the FOMC said in a statement.

In May, the Fed raised the main interest rate by another 25 basis points (0.25 pp), but in the communiqué the Fed signaled that this may be the last increase in the series lasting from 2022. It was the 10th consecutive increase, which brought the federal funds rate range to 5-5.25 percent, which is the highest level in 16 years. (PAP)

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