미연준, 2023년까지 제로금리 유지시사…경기회복 지원 초점

With the American economy still struggling from the fallout from COVID-19, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that interest rates will likely remain near zero at least through 2023.
Kim Jae-hee reports.
The U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate steady at near zero on Wednesday, and vowed to keep the rates there until there is a consistent rise in inflation.
All seventeen members of the monetary policy committee forecast that rates would stay fixed near zero through 2021.
And thirteen out of seventeen members indicated they expect near zero rates through 2023.
"We now indicate that we expect it will be appropriate to maintain the current 0 to one-quarter percent target range for the federal funds rate, until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the committee's assessments of maximum employment, and inflation has risen to 2 percent, and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time."
In a statement released after a two-day policy-setting meeting on Wednesday, the Fed said the COVID-19 epidemic continued to weigh on the economy, and that the Fed is committed to using its "full range of tools" to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time.
The Fed also adjusted its projections for GDP and unemployment, predicting a smaller economic hit in 2020.
It projected that the U.S. economy would shrink by 3-point-7 percent this year, better than the 6-point-5 percent decline feared in June.
A lower unemployment rate was also expected for the end of 2020.
Fed said they expected the unemployment rate to fall to 7-point-6 percent by the end of this year, lower than the 9-point-3 percent previously anticipated.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.