The Federal Reserve, as expected, held interest rates steady Wednesday while it awaits greater clarity on the future path of the economy and proposed new economic policies from Donald Trump and the Republican Congress.
Though the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, repeatedly tout their independence from the political world, it is clear from comments from Fed officials that they believe inflation is still not as low as they would like and the economy is performing better than anticipated. Rising yields on government bonds have also signalled that the market is worried about the Fed lowering rates any further. The decision to hold pat leaves the Fed’s key overnight lending rate at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.
This post originally appeared at U.S. News & World Report.