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1st LD: U.S. Fed raises federal funds rate by 25bp, first rate hike since 2006

Xinhua, December 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to raise benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the first interest rate increase since 2006, marking the end of an era of extraordinary easing monetary policy.

Given the considerable improvement in labor market conditions this year and it's reasonably confident that inflation will rise, the central bank decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 0.25-0.5 percent, the Fed said in a statement after concluding a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Endit