▲ U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington on Nov. 7, 2024, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) FOMC-rate decision

(LEAD) U.S. Fed cuts key lending rate by quarter-percentage point

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; ADDS more details in paras 3-4)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point, while curtailing the anticipated number of next year's reductions it penciled in three months ago.

After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the central bank announced the decision to reduce the rate to the 4.25 to 4.50 percent range. It followed a quarter-percentage-point cut last month and a 50-basis-point reduction in September.

FOMC members' new median economic projections showed that the federal funds rate would be cut to 3.9 percent at the end of next year, up from the September projection of 3.4 percent.

This week's Fed rate cut put the gap between the key rates of South Korea and the United States at 1.5 percentage points.

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