미연준, 2023년까지 제로금리 유지시사…경기회복 지원 초점<br /><br />With the American economy still struggling from the fallout from COVID-19, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that interest rates will likely remain near zero at least through 2023.<br />Kim Jae-hee reports.<br />The U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate steady at near zero on Wednesday, and vowed to keep the rates there until there is a consistent rise in inflation.<br />All seventeen members of the monetary policy committee forecast that rates would stay fixed near zero through 2021.<br />And thirteen out of seventeen members indicated they expect near zero rates through 2023.<br />"We now indicate that we expect it will be appropriate to maintain the current 0 to one-quarter percent target range for the federal funds rate, until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the committee's assessments of maximum employment, and inflation has risen to 2 percent, and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time."<br />In a statement released after a two-day policy-setting meeting on Wednesday, the Fed said the COVID-19 epidemic continued to weigh on the economy, and that the Fed is committed to using its "full range of tools" to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time.<br />The Fed also adjusted its projections for GDP and unemployment, predicting a smaller economic hit in 2020.<br />It projected that the U.S. economy would shrink by 3-point-7 percent this year, better than the 6-point-5 percent decline feared in June.<br />A lower unemployment rate was also expected for the end of 2020.<br />Fed said they expected the unemployment rate to fall to 7-point-6 percent by the end of this year, lower than the 9-point-3 percent previously anticipated.<br />Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.<br />
