Interest Rate | featured news

The central bank also said it would maintain its program of low-interest lending to euro-zone banks through the end of the year.

The Federal Reserve is crucifying the U.S. economy on a cross of two-percent inflation... The Fed makes a very simple promise: It promises to keep inflation at a certain level every year. That level has changed over the past 30 years, but it's currently around 2% a year. If the economy is running too hot, the Fed raises interest rates. If it's running cold, it lowers rates.

Top Federal Reserve officials, saying the economy is expanding moderately, reaffirmed their pledge to keep short-term interest rates at record lows through 2014.

They’ve tried dumping $2 trillion in cash into the financial system, slashed overnight interest rates to zero and made an unprecedented promise to keep rates low for at least another two years.

Federal Reserve officials issued a more favorable assessment of the economy but refrained from taking any new action to add to or pull back from their latest campaign to spur growth.

The Federal Reserve extended the time it expects to see “exceptionally low” short-term interest rates from the middle of 2013.

The Federal Reserve will begin later this month to publish a forecast of its own actions, inaugurating a policy that is intended to magnify the power of those actions by shaping the expectations of investors.

The European Commission seized documents from several major banks on Tuesday, marking the intensification of a world-wide law-enforcement probe into how key interest rates are set, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

The Federal Reserve, facing rising global financial strains and recession fears, is poised to increase downward pressure on longer-term interest rates next week in a bid to accelerate a sputtering U.S. recovery.

The Obama administration is considering a program to let millions of homeowners refinance at today’s rates.