Federal Reserve promises to keep interest rates low as economy tries to recover

published 29 July 2020

The Federal Reserve has promised to use "our full range of tools" to help the economy recover from its coronavirus slump.

The Fed acknowledged in a Wednesday statement that "economic activity and employment have picked up somewhat in recent months" after a massive plunge early in the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the Federal Reserve Board voted to keep interest rates low, between an expect 0 and 0.25 percent, "until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events."

Interest rates have remained within this window since March 15 as COVID-19 began its spread across the U.S. And given that the Fed took a similar course of action during the 2008 recession, Wednesday's move wasn't unexpected. As for predictions for the future, "the path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus," though data points to a "slowing in the pace of the recovery," the Fed said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox