Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged, Says Will Be ‘Patient’ on Future Hikes

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C., on July 14, 2016. Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Jan. 30 but said it would be patient in lifting borrowing costs further this year as it pointed to rising uncertainty about the U.S. economic outlook.

While the Fed said continued U.S. economic and job growth were still “the most likely outcomes,” it removed language from its December policy statement that risks to the outlook were “roughly balanced” and struck language that projected “some further” rate hikes would be appropriate in 2019.