The Federal Reserve Board of Governors of the United States ended its two-day monetary policy meeting on the 26th and announced that it would raise the target range of the Federal funds rate by 25 basis points to between 5.25% and 5.5%. This is the 11th rate hike by the Federal Reserve since entering the current rate hike cycle in March 2022, with a cumulative rate hike of 525 basis points. After the monetary policy meeting in June this year, the Federal Reserve announced a pause in interest rate hikes. In a statement released on the same day, the Federal Reserve stated that recent indicators indicate a sustained and moderate expansion of economic activity in the United States, with strong job growth and low unemployment rates in recent months, but inflation remains high. The US banking system is healthy and resilient, and tightening credit conditions for households and businesses may put pressure on economic activity, employment, and inflation, but the extent of the impact is still uncertain. The statement said that the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve remained highly concerned about inflation risks and decided to raise the target range of the Federal funds rate to between 5.25% and 5.5% in order to achieve the employment and inflation goals. The Federal Reserve will continue to reduce its holdings of US treasury bond bonds and institutional bonds in accordance with the previous plan, and is committed to reducing the inflation rate to the target level of 2%. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell stated at a press conference held after the meeting that since the beginning of last year, the Federal Reserve has significantly tightened monetary policy, but the effects of monetary tightening have not yet been fully realized. Inflation in the United States has slowed down since the middle of last year, but it is still far above the long-term target of 2%. The Federal Reserve remains committed to returning inflation to its target of 2%, and this process still has a long way to go. (New News Agency)