Federal Reserve leaves key interest rate unchanged

Washington (AFP) – The US central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged as expected on Wednesday and at the same time signaled that policymakers are not overly concerned by the recent uptick in inflation.

The Federal Reserve noted that inflation had moved up but said its two percent target is “symmetric,” indicating there is margin to fluctuate above or below that level.

At the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee also reaffirmed that it expects to continue on a path of “further gradual increases” in the benchmark lending rate, which it hiked in March.