Federal Reserve Leaves Benchmark Rate Unchanged

The Federal Open Market Committee said Tuesday that it was leaving the benchmark interest rate unchanged after its meeting in Washington, and suggested it could revisit the economic questions when global uncertainties subside.

The interest rate at which commercial banks lend each other money overnight is currently at 1.25%, a 40-year low. Lower interest rates help spur consumer and capital spending, both of which can help the economy and particularly the trucking industry.

The Federal Reserve also declined to comment on the current economic situation.

"In light of the unusually large uncertainties clouding the geopolitical situation in the short run and their apparent effects on economic decision-making, the committee does not believe it can usefully characterize the current balance of risks with respect to the prospects for its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth,” the Fed said in its statement. “Rather, the committee decided to refrain from making that determination until some of those uncertainties abate. In the current circumstances, heightened surveillance is particularly informative.”

The Fed added that once the uncertainties lift “the accommodative stance of monetary policy, coupled with ongoing growth in productivity, will provide support to economic activity sufficient to engender an improving economic climate over time.”

The action of not taking a bias or commenting on the current economic situation was just one of several unusual events at the Fed’s regularly scheduled meeting. On Monday afternoon, a protester claiming to have explosives drove a tractor into a pond on the National Mall near the Fed building, forcing a police shutdown of much of the area, the Associated Press said.

The FOMC is next scheduled to meet on May 6.