iStock/Thinkstoc(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve hiked its key interest rate by 0.25 percent Wednesday, the first such increase in a year. The target interest rate is now 0.5-0.75 percent, increasing from a range of 0.25-0.5 percent.
You can read the full statement here.
The decision was widely expected by investors, who have been speculating for months about when the Fed would increase rates.
Before last year’s increase (from a range of 0-0.25 percent), the Fed had kept interest rates low in an effort to boost the economy amid the Great Recession and its aftermath. Before Dec. 2015, it last raised the rate in June 2006.
The Fed added it could hike rates as many as three times next year.
Stocks were flat going into the decision and have remained that way following the panel’s announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up fractionally to 19,941.
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