March21,2019

After a two-day meeting, US monetary policymakers voted 11-0 unanimously to keep interest rate in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent. The US Federal Reserve does not expect to raise interest rates until sometime in 2020 amid slower economic growth at home and abroad.

In a news conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the central bank would continue to be “patient”, telling "It may be some time before the outlook for jobs and inflation calls clearly for a change in policy." The Fed now projects 2019 US economic growth at 1.9 percent to 2.2 percent.

Powell said that there was a positive outlook for the rest of the year, since the unemployment rate was under 4% and the inflation was below the central bank's 2% target. But he said, "We are also very mindful of what the risks are, which include slower global growth and world trade continues to shrink as no resolution on either Brexit or US-China tariff war."