The COVID-19 crisis is causing “tremendous” economic hardship across the US, says FOMC
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its meeting today, citing the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The coronavirus outbreak is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world,” the Fed’s governing body, the Federal Open Markets Committee, said in a statement. “The virus and the measures taken to protect public health have induced sharp declines in economic activity and a surge in job losses. Weaker demand and significantly lower oil prices are holding down consumer price inflation.”
The FOMC said that the ongoing coronavirus crisis would “weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term,” and posed “considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.”
In light of the situation, the FOMC decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at zero to one-quarter percent. The FOMC said that it expected to maintain the target rate “until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals.”
