Fed delivers small rate hike, flags possible pause in tightening cycle

The unanimous decision lifted the U.S. central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate to the 5.00%-5.25% range, the Fed's tenth consecutive increase since March 2022.

In its place the Fed inserted a more qualified statement, reminiscent of language used when it halted rate hikes in 2006, which says that "in determining the extent to which additional policy firming may be appropriate," officials will study how the economy, inflation and financial markets behave in the coming weeks and months.

But the Fed's policy rate is now roughly the same as it was on the eve of a destabilizing financial crisis 16 years ago, and is at the level which a majority of Fed officials projected in March would in fact be "sufficiently restrictive" to return inflation to target. It is currently still more than twice that level.

Risks around the recent failures of several U.S. banks and a debt limit standoff between Republicans in Congress and Democratic President Joe Biden have added to the Fed's sense of caution about trying to tighten financial conditions further.

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