The Federal Reserve has left its key interest rate unchanged at a time of solid economic gains but also heightened uncertainty surrounding the new Trump administration, The Associated Press reports.
The Fed also notes improved sentiment among consumers and businesses, adding it’s more confident that inflation will reach its 2% target.
It offered no insight about when it will resume raising rates, and it wants more time to monitor the economy and still envisions a gradual pace of rate increases, according to statement it issued after its latest policy meeting.
Many economists think the Fed may put off further rate increases until more is known about President Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda, or whether his drive to cancel or rewrite trade deals will slow growth or unsettle investors.
The statement offered a slightly more upbeat tone than it did after the Fed’s previous meeting in December, reflecting rising confidence in the economy and signs that chronically low inflation is moving higher.
But none of the revisions to the statement appeared to hint that a rate hike could be coming as soon as the Fed’s next meeting in March. If the Fed does want to signal investors of a forthcoming rate increase, it can use Chair Janet Yellen’s semiannual testimony on interest-rate policy to Congress on Feb. 14-15 to do so.
