The Fed’s Take

The Fed’s Open Market Committee – the group that sets the US’s short term interest rates – met today and decided to hold interest rates constant. They also issued a statement indicating their sense of the economy’s direction:

The Committee perceives that the upside and downside risks to the attainment of sustainable growth for the next few quarters are roughly equal. The probability of an unwelcome fall in inflation has diminished in recent months and now appears almost equal to that of a rise in inflation. However, with inflation quite low and resource use slack, the Committee believes that policy accommodation can be maintained for a considerable period.

Kash