Fed Holds Interest Rate at 5.25%
For a seventh straight time, the Federal Reserve Wednesday voted to keep the benchmark U.S. interest rate at 5.25%.
The vote to hold the federal funds rate unchanged was unanimous.
The Fed last held the rate steady at its March 20-21 meeting and has not raised the bechmark rate that banks charge each other since last June, when it raised the rate by a quarter-point for the 17th straight time.
Following is the full statement from the Fed:
The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 5.25%.
Economic growth slowed in the first part of this year and the adjustment in the housing sector is ongoing. Nevertheless, the economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace over coming quarters.
Core inflation remains somewhat elevated. Although inflation pressures seem likely to moderate over time, the high level of resource utilization has the potential to sustain those pressures.
In these circumstances, the Committee's predominant policy concern remains the risk that inflation will fail to moderate as expected. Future policy adjustments will depend on the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; Timothy F. Geithner, Vice Chairman; Thomas M. Hoenig; Donald L. Kohn; Randall S. Kroszner; Cathy E. Minehan; Frederic S. Mishkin; Michael H. Moskow; William Poole; and Kevin M. Warsh.
