June 12 (UPI) — The Fed on Wednesday held key interest rates steady and said one interest rate cut is possible before year’s end.
“Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated,” the Federal Reserve said in a statement. “In recent months, there has been modest further progress toward the committee’s 2% inflation objective.”
The Fed signaled that just one interest rate cut is possible by year’s end. That removed two of three interest rate cuts that had been indicated in March.
The Fed statement also said it needs greater confidence that inflation will head “sustainably toward” the goal of 2% annual inflation before it will be appropriate to cut rates.
Officials decided to maintain the target range of federal funds interest rates at 5 1/4 to 5 1/2%.
The monetary policy statement said there has been modest progress toward the 2% inflation objective.
CPI inflation was unexpectedly flat for the first time since 2014, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday.
