US Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News - NHKニュース

Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve have decided to hold interest rates steady. They are apparently trying to assess inflation after raising the rates at their previous meeting.

Policymakers wrapped up their two-day meeting on Wednesday under Chair Kevin Warsh. They decided to keep the benchmark interest rates between 3.75 and 4 percent.

Warsh said: "Inflation is too high. Energy and related prices have moved higher again in recent weeks, and our job is to ensure that relative price changes in some sectors do not broaden out across the economy and that inflation expectations remain as they are anchored."

The decision is seen as an attempt to assess economic trends. The rate hike last month was the first in three years, and energy prices remain high due to the situation in the Middle East.

Two members of the committee voted against the decision. They were in favor of a hike of a quarter percentage point.

Market expectations are growing that policymakers will raise rates at their next meeting in December.