The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point as expected, bringing the benchmark funds rate to 5-5.25%, the highest since August 2007.
That said, the Fed gave a tentative hint that the current tightening cycle is at an end, opening the door for a pause in hiking.
The Fed further dropped language that it “anticipates” that more policy firming may be appropriate to attain a “sufficiently restrictive” stance.
The 10th interest rate increase in just over a year, was approved unanimously amid US economic uncertainty and over the objections of prominent Democratic lawmakers, who this week urged the Fed to stop raising rates that they insisted could cause a recession and excessive job losses.
