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| - The Federal Reserve on Thursday restated its pledge to use all its tools to help the US economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but did not announce any new measures. "The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus," the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement at the end of its two-day meeting. As Covid-19 infections spike and the United States sets new records for daily cases, economists are increasingly worried that the tentative recovery from this year's business lockdowns will falter without additional help. "The ongoing public health crisis will continue to weigh on economic activity, employment and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term." While activity and employment have continued to recover, the FOMC said it remains "committed to using its full range of tools to support the US economy in this challenging time." Fed Chair Jerome Powell has urged lawmakers to approve further aid after the $2.2 trillion package passed in March. However, despite months of negotiations, the White House failed to reach an agreement with Congressional Democrats on a new stimulus package before Tuesday's presidential election, and the chances for passage of a broad set of measures to help businesses and unemployed workers remains in doubt. Powell will speak to the press following the meeting, and could take the opportunity to signal a willingness to find new tools to help the economy, after the bank earlier this year pumped trillions of dollars of liquidity into the financial system and cut the benchmark lending rate to zero. hs/cs
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