Jan
16Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Federal Reserve promised on Tuesday that it would hold interest rates at record lows for at least two years. The Fed had held on to the record-low key lending rate since December 2008 to help boost the American economy.
The decision was based on a 7-3 vote, which was the first time in 20 years that three Fed members dissented. The three members who dissented were Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser.
Besides holding the interest rate until the middle of 2013, the Fed said it would consider additional measures to support the weak American economy, worsened by Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the country’s credit rating last week to AA+ due to the impasse on the debt limit issue.
The stock market, which dipped following the S&P downgrade, made a dramatic rebound on Tuesday after the Fed announcement. The Dow
