-Federal Open Market Committee
The Fed opted not to hike interest rates and remained ambiguous about raising rates in June amid moribund economy and weakening consumer spending. The US central bank proceeded with its plan to move cautiously on raising the benchmark federal-funds rate, which has been between 0.25% and 0.50% since December, when the Fed increased short-term rates after keeping them near zero since 2008. Policy makers pointed that the US economy is performing robustly in some respects, but continuing to falter in others. Household spending has diminished even though real income has increased and consumer sentiment remains high, while the labour market conditions have improved further.
The Fed's caution underlines how policy makers still lack confidence they can move away from extraordinary easy-money policies without derailing the fragile US growth and knocking the global economy off balance. The seven weeks until the June meeting could help determine how many times, if any, the Fed will hike short-term interest rates this year. Policy makers will get two months of inflation and labour-market data as well as two estimates of first-quarter growth before their next meeting. One major source of uncertainty for policy makers is the UK's referendum over whether to leave the EU, which is scheduled for June 23, a week after the Fed meets.
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