Federal Reserve promises to keep interest rates low as economy tries to recover
The Federal Reserve has promised to use "our full range of tools" to help the economy recover from its coronavirus slump.
The Fed acknowledged in a Wednesday statement that "economic activity and employment have picked up somewhat in recent months" after a massive plunge early in the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the Federal Reserve Board voted to keep interest rates low, between an expect 0 and 0.25 percent, "until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events."
Interest rates have remained within this window since March 15 as COVID-19 began its spread across the U.S. And given that the Fed took a similar course of action during the 2008 recession, Wednesday's move wasn't unexpected. As for predictions for the future, "the path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus," though data points to a "slowing in the pace of the recovery," the Fed said.
Stocks didn't move much after the Fed's announcement, Reuters noted. Yields on U.S. treasury debt fell slightly, while an already weak U.S. dollar fell even further.
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