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1st LD: U.S. Fed says unlikely to hike interest rates in April

Xinhua, March 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

The U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it is unlikely to raise interest rates in April, but dropped the word "patient" from its policy statement, setting the stage for an interest rate hike later this year.

"The Committee judges that an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate remains unlikely at the April FOMC meeting, " the Fed said in a statement after a two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank's chief body for monetary policy, noting that U.S. economic growth "has moderated somewhat" since January.

But the Fed dropped its pledge to be "patient" in beginning to raise interest rates from the statement, paving the way for an interest rate hike as soon as June, according to analysts.

The Fed said it will "be appropriate" to raise the interest rate when it has seen "further improvement" in the labor market and is "reasonably confident" that inflation will move back to its target of 2 percent in the medium term. The Fed has kept its benchmark short-term interest rates near zero since late 2008. Endite