The US central bank expressed an optimistic view of the US economy, saying it is showing signs of leveling out. The bank's policy meeting nevertheless decided to maintain the near-zero interest rate.
The US Federal Reserve concluded its two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday.
FOMC members unanimously voted to maintain its key interest rate target of between zero and 0.25 percent.
The Federal Reserve says in a statement released after the meeting that economic activity is leveling out.
The Fed says financial markets have improved further in recent weeks, and household spending has continued to show signs of stabilizing.
The Fed also says it will gradually slow the pace of its program to buy 300 billion dollars of Treasury securities, so that the purchasing will be complete by the end of October. The program is designed to tackle the credit crunch.
最終更新：2009年08月17日 23:59
