The Federal Reserve ended its historic easing program Wednesday, ceasing the final $15 billion of bond purchases it had made in an effort to keep the economic recovery going.
Though it ended the program, the Federal Open Market Committee kept the “considerable period of time language” that investors had considered crucial in the central bank’s map for when it would raise interest rates. The “considerable” time refers to when the Fed will begin raising rates after the end of the monthly bond buying.
To that end, it said it would keep its short-term target funds rate anchored near zero until it seems more improvement from the economy.