FED holds interest rates unchanged

The US Federal Reserve (FED) announced its first interest rate decision of 2024 and kept the interest rates unchanged at 5.25% - 5.50%. Keeping interest rates steady was widely expected by the market.  With this decision, the interest rates remained unchanged for the fourth time in a row.

The FED stated that it is not appropriate to lower interest rates without having the necessary confidence that inflation is sustainably slowing down towards 2%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, "It seems possible that we can achieve this confidence, but we have not yet succeeded."

The next meeting over interest rates will be held on 19-20 March.