WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates in the world’s largest economy by 25 basis points to tackle stubbornly high inflation, a move sure to anger President Donald Trump, who has demanded lower rates.

The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise rates to between 3.75 and 4.00 per cent, citing “elevated” inflation and adding that the rate hike would support a “timelier return” to its 2pc target for the metric.

Addressing a press conference after the rate decision, US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh stre­ssed that the central bank’s decision to raise interest rates, the first since 2023, was not influenced by financial markets.

“We made this decision today based on our assessment of the situation,” Warsh told the press conference. “I’ll observe market prices and see what they have to say. But today was our decision.”

He said that the central bank’s independence comes from staying focused on its objectives, in comments that come amid political pressure for lower interest rates.

“Part of the independence of the Federal Reserve is we stay in our lane,” Warsh said. “We let people that do trade policy and fiscal policy stay in their lane too. That’s how we can stand up here and call them the way we see them.

“Our predominant focus is on the price stability side of our mandate. The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long,” he told a press conference.

A majority of Fed policymakers expect at least one more rate hike to be necessary before the end of the year, according to the central bank’s Summary of Economic Projections, also published Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026