The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has announced its interest rate decision

The Fed has announced the interest rate decision that everyone was eagerly awaiting. The Fed did not change the interest rate and kept it steady at 5.50 percent. The decision was taken unanimously.

In its statement, the Fed announced that they remain strongly committed to their 2 percent target, that they plan to slow the pace of balance sheet reduction starting in June, that they will reduce the monthly redemption cap on Treasury securities from 60 billion dollars to 25 billion dollars, and that the reduction of Mortgage-backed securities will continue at 35 billion dollars.

In the statement issued after the 2-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in the US that concluded today, it was stated that recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace, that job gains have remained strong, and that the unemployment rate has remained low; it was also noted that inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated, and that in recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee's 2 percent inflation objective.

In the continuation of the Fed statement, it was noted that the committee aims to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run, and that the committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals have moved toward better balance over the past year.

It was stated that the economic outlook is uncertain and that the board remains highly attentive to inflation risks. In support of its goals, it was announced that the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent.