Fed to keep rates near zero until economy ‘weathered’ coronavirus impact

The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee has on Wednesday released the minutes of its March 15 meeting, during which it slashed its key interest rate to near zero, until the economy had weathered the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision also involved an approval to the “forward guidance” the U.S. Federal Reserve uses to indicate the future path of its policy.

“With regard to monetary policy beyond this meeting, these participants judged that it would be appropriate to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to ¼ percent until policymakers were confident that the economy had weathered recent events and was on track to achieve the Committee’s maximum employment and price stability goals,” the Fed minutes read.