The U.S. Federal Reserve held its benchmark lending rate steady for a sixth consecutive time during a monetary policy meeting on Wednesday as stickier-than-expected inflation has dampened prospects for rate cuts in the near future. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the central bank announced the decision to maintain the rate in the 5.25 to 5.50 percent range. The key rate has remained unchanged since a quarter percentage point increase to the current level in July. Before the freeze, the central bank carried out an aggressive rate-hiking campaign launched in March 2022 to bring down inflation. In March, FOMC members' latest median economic projections signaled the possibility of three quarter-percentage-point cuts this year. But stubborn inflation data have raised questions over when and how much the Fed would trim the rate this year. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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