Federal Reserve raises interest rates by 25 basis points

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by 25 basis points, issuing an 0.25% hike in line with earlier expectations in a move that signals a rate slowdown in the Fed's fight against inflation. 

The Fed said in a statement that its Federal Open Market Committee "anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range" will still be necessary "in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time," a sign that the central bank will be looking to more rate hikes in the near future. 

In determining future hikes, the FOMC "will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments," the bank said. 

The Fed's hikes represent the highest rate increases in well over a decade, with the bank working to stem runaway inflation that slammed the economy for much of 2022. 

The FOMC "is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective," the bank said on Wednesday.