The US central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), expects to keep the key interest rate at a high level "for a while longer" and make further increases during the year.
This is evident from the minutes from the bank's December meeting, which became public on Wednesday, TT reports.
The Fed considers that it is necessary to maintain the high interest rate until inflation shows certain signs of turning back down towards 2 percent.
Pumps up the interest rate
The announcement comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a 0.50 percentage point hike in December, to a range of 4.25-4.50 percent, the highest level in 15 years.
In total, the Fed made seven hikes in 2022, including four so-called triple hikes in a row, to deal with rampant inflation.
Analysts predict the Fed will have pumped interest rates up to 5.00-5.25 percent by the end of 2023, before starting to cut them next year.
The reaction of the US stock market
The leading U.S. stock indexes retreated slightly after the Fed's minutes were made public on Wednesday night, but recovered ahead of the close.