The Federal Reserve will keep its key interest rate near zero and said it will take further actions to boost the economy, it announced Thursday.
The federal funds rate, the benchmark rate banks uses in issuing loans, will hold steady at 0 to .25 percent because “the [Federal Open Market] Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time,” the Fed said in a release.

It also announced it will continue to purchase large quantities of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities to provide support to the mortgage and housing markets, and said it may increase the volume of purchases if necessary.
The Fed also said it will implement the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, a program that provides credit to households and small businesses by giving banks more loans, and will consider purchasing longer-term Treasury securities to improve private credit markets.
The Fed’s decision was made based on the declining economy and tight credit conditions. While it acknowledged the economy will begin to recover later this year, it said continually declining prices of energy and other commodities will keep inflation at bay.