The US Federal Reserve (Fed) is leaving the key interest rate in the extremely low range of 0.0 to 0.25 percent for the time being.
The Central Bank Council decided on Wednesday.
In view of the high inflation rate and the good situation on the labor market, however, it will "soon be appropriate" to raise key interest rates, the Fed said after a two-day meeting of its Open Market Committee.
The massive bond purchases started because of the corona pandemic should therefore be ended by the beginning of March.
The expiry of the bond program, which is now planned for the beginning of March, will enable the key interest rates to be raised for the first time in the same month.
The Fed's FOMC will next meet on March 15-16.
In December, the central bank signaled that it could raise interest rates three times over the course of 2022.
It would be the first rate hike since late 2018. The US dollar appreciated moderately immediately after the announcement.
The Fed also remains on track to halt its multi-billion dollar asset purchases in March.
For a few months now, she's been melting away on the monthly purchases.
In addition, the central bank signaled a reduction in its bloated balance sheet after the first rate hike.
Treasury and mortgage-backed securities purchases have inflated the Fed's balance sheet to almost $9 trillion on an unprecedented scale.
For comparison: Before the financial crisis of 2008, the balance sheet total was a tenth of that.
As the American central bank, the Fed is committed to the goals of price stability and full employment.
The labor market is developing very positively, but inflation is forcing the Fed to take countermeasures.
An increase in the key interest rate would curb inflation, but also dampen the economy.
In the midst of the economic recovery from the consequences of the pandemic, however, consumer prices in the USA have risen sharply.
US consumer prices rose 7 percent in December, the highest in four decades.