A week after the gloomy market, the long-awaited Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting was held. The members of the committee unanimously approved the decision to keep interest rates near zero. The FOMC released a statement on Wednesday, stating that:
“With inflation well above 2 percent and a strong labor market, the Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate”.
A statement from a financial institution emphasized “soon,” which meant that, at least for now, the Federal Reserve plans to leave the base interest rate unchanged. Jerome Powell after the meeting stated that interest rates could rise in March. Powell also said the Fed’s balance sheet will take time to shrink.
“The balance sheet is bigger than it needs to be,” Powell told the press. Powell emphasized that with everyone still supporting the FOMC’s “soon” statement. The committee is of a mind to raise the federal funds rate at the March meeting assuming that the conditions are appropriate for doing so.
 meeting was held.){kind=link}