After 10 consecutive hikes, US Federal Reserve keeps interest ‎rates steady

US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, as expected, after raising them 10 times in a row.

Today, Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee decided to hold interest rates on the federal funds unchanged, in line with market expectations.

The Fed stated, in a statement, that the Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates at a range between 5% and 5.25%.

Before the monetary tightening campaign, the interest rate in March 2022 was in the range of 0.25% to 0.50%.

It is noteworthy that the Federal Reserve had raised the interest rate 10 times since March of last year, to reach 5.25%, in a move to reach inflation rates to the target level of 2%.

The Fed raised the interest rate 7 times in 2022, in meetings during the months of March, May, June, July, September, November and December.

The Fed raised interest rates 3 times by 25 points each time in February, March and May 2023, while 4 other meetings remain throughout the year, and the decision of the next meeting will be on July 26.

The latest decision came in line with expectations, while experts and traders closely monitor any change in future directions.