US Central Bank Held Its First Press Conference

Officials with the US Federal Reserve have now decided that it's 600-billion US dollar bond-buying program is going to come to an end in June.

At the same time, the Fed has also decided it's not going to move its interest rates at the moment.

CRI Washington correspondent Wang Shanshan has more from the first-ever regular news conference held by the US central bank chair in its 98-year history.

Ending a two-day meeting, the Fed has released two important messages that the market has been waiting for. One, it will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25 percent, meaning it's in no rush to raise interest rates. Second, its bond purchasing program, known as quantative-easing, or QE2, will end on time, relieving many people's fear that a QE3 might follow.

The Fed is also offering its latest economic projections for the year. The US economy will grow between 3.1 percent and 3.3 percent this year. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says the new forecast reflects the fact the economy has slowed in the first three months of this year because of higher energy costs.

"These projections are a little below those made in January. The marked down growth in 2011 in particular reflects somewhat slower-than-anticipated growth in the first quarter."

As it winds down its economic support programs, the Fed is shifting its focus on when and how it should start boosting interest rates to prevent inflation from getting out of control. Some senior Fed officials argue that the Fed should start raising interest rates by the end of this year to fight inflation. To nurture the recovery, the Fed has kept rates at ultra-low levels since December 2008, keeping a somewhat loose pledge to keep the rates near zero for an "extended period."

"The reason we use this vague terminology is because we don't know for certainty how quickly response will be required. That will depend entirely on how the economy evolves. "

Apart from what Bernanke says, the news conference itself is being considered a big deal in the United States. While news conferences in the nation's capital are as common as rain in the west coast, it's exceedingly rare for the Federal Reserve to hold them. From its inception nearly a century ago, the Fed has been an opaque, secretive institution. The Wednesday conference held by the Fed chairman is the first, of what Bernake says, is going to be a quarterly ritual.

"We're not done. We'll continue to look for things that we can do to be more transparent and accountable."

Bernake says the Fed hopes to solicit more public support by being more open during this difficult economic situation.

However, many watchers say the sluggish recovery, the risk of inflation and the deepening divide within the Fed itself could make Bernanke's job even harder.

For CRI, this is Wang Shanshan in Washington.