This is one hell of a long meeting...

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), December 21, 1999

Answers

About 2:15 eastern is the scheduled announcement.

-- (Here@today.com), December 21, 1999.

Tuesday December 21, 2:23 pm Eastern Time Fed Leaves Interest Rates Alone Federal Reserve Makes No Change in Interest Rates and Decides To Keep Its Policy Directive at Neutral in View of Y2K Concerns By JEANNINE AVERSA Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve, after bumping up interest rates three times this year to slow the red-hot economy, decided today to leave rates unchanged, even though it expressed continued worries about inflation down the road.

At the same time, the Fed said it would keep its policy directive, intended as a sign of future rate moves, at neutral, citing uncertainities about the Y2K computer date changeover.

The decision was announced after a closed-door meeting by the Federal Open Market Committee, the group of Fed policy-makers who set interest rate policies.

By leaving rates unchanged, the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other on overnight loans, continues to stand at 5.50 percent.

In a brief three-paragraph statement, the Fed said that it remained concerned that the economy is growing too rapidly and thus could spark inflationary pressures down the road.

But the central bank said it had decided to hold rates unchanged at this meeting because it wanted to focus interest rate policies on ensuring ``a smooth transition into the Year 2000.''

Economists had expected the central bank at today's meeting would leave rates unchanged because of its fears any further tightening this close to the end of the year would add unneeded uncertainty to the banking system.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), December 21, 1999.