WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged and maintained a wait-and-see stance after wrapping up its first monetary policy meeting of 2020.
"The Committee judges that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation returning to the Committee's symmetric 2 percent objective," the Fed said in a statement after the meeting, referring to the central bank's policy-making committee.
The Fed noted that U.S. economic activity has been rising at a "moderate rate" since the last meeting in December with household spending rising at a "moderate pace," while business fixed investment and exports "remain weak."
"The Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook, including global developments and muted inflation pressures, as it assesses the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate," the Fed said.
The Fed lowered rates three times in 2019, amid growing uncertainty stemming from trade tensions, weakness in global growth and muted inflation pressures. These policy adjustments put the current federal funds rate target range at 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent.
