Fed expects economic weakness to persist

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Wednesday Apr 29 2009 Breaking news Fed expects economic weakness to persist The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it would leave interest rates unchanged and cautioned that the economy remained weak. The US central bank did not announce any increases to its plan to purchase Treasury and agency debt, but made clear that it was willing to step up those programmes if necessary. "The economy has continued to contract, though the pace of contraction appears to be somewhat slower," the Fed said, adding it would "remain weak for a time". The closely watched Federal Open Market Committee statement came after disappointing commerce department figures showed earlier on Wednesday that the US economy contracted more than expected during the first quarter. US gross domestic product declined by an annualised rate of 6.1 per cent in the first quarter, after declining by 6.3 per cent during the fourth quarter of last year, the sharpest contraction since 1982. Read more » ABOUT THIS EMAIL You have received this email because you have signed up for this briefing on FT.com Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Change your email address Change whether you receive this email as HTML or plain text | Forward this email to a friend Privacy policy | Advertise | Contact © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.