美聯儲維持利率不變

The Federal Reserve said it believes the recent slowdown in US growth is likely to prove temporary as it stayed on course for a further increase in short-term interest rates as soon as June.

美聯儲(Fed)表示，它認爲最近美國經濟增速放緩可能被證明爲是暫時的，美聯儲仍維持最早在6月進一步提高短期利率的路線。

The US central bank kept its target range for the federal funds rate at 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent following its latest two-day meeting. In a statement, policymakers led by chair Janet Yellen acknowledged that household spending growth had grown “only modestly” lately, but they emphasised that the “fundamentals” behind consumption growth remained solid.

在爲期兩天的最新政策會議後，美聯儲將聯邦基金利率維持在0.75%至1%的目標區間。以美聯儲主席珍妮特?耶倫(Janet Yellen)爲首的政策制定者在一份聲明中承認，家庭支出增速最近“僅溫和”上升，但他們強調，支持消費增長的“基本面因素”仍保持穩健。

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US economic growth slowed to an annual rate of just 0.7 per cent in the opening quarter of the year, and core inflation has subsided marginally even as the jobs market continues to progress towards full employment. The Fed lifted rates by a quarter point at its March 15 meeting and signalled that it expects a total of two more increases in 2017.

今年第一季度，美國經濟增速降至僅0.7%的年率水平，核心通脹率微幅下滑，儘管就業市場繼續朝着充分就業的方向發展。在今年3月15日的利率會議上，美聯儲加息25個基點，並表示預計今年總共還有兩次加息。

The US dollar and Treasury yields held on to their gains after the Federal Reserve said the first-quarter growth slowdown is probably “transitory,” potentially setting the stage for a rate rise this summer.

在美聯儲發表聲明後，美元匯率和美國國債收益率保持漲勢。美聯儲表示，第一季度增速放緩可能是“暫時”的，這可能爲今年夏季加息奠定了基礎。