The Federal Reserve boosted its assessment of the economy and downplayed low inflation readings while repeating a pledge to remain “patient” on raising interest rates.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) described the expansion as “solid,” an improvement over the “moderate” performance it saw in December. It substituted “strong” for “solid” in its evaluation of job gains after a meeting today in Washington.

While inflation “is anticipated to decline further in the near term,” the FOMC said in a statement, it is likely to rise gradually toward its 2 percent goal “over the medium term” as the impact of low oil prices diminishes. Policy makers saw a bonus in cheap energy, saying it's boosting consumer buying power.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Cash Management
Global Markets
Economy
Kicker
News