The central bank said it will keep its rate there until it is “confident that the economy has weathered recent events." The Fed will buy at least $500 billion of Treasury securities and at least $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities. The central bank has now returned that rate — which influences many consumer and business loans — to its record-low level. One dissenting Fed member, Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve, voted Sunday against the full-point rate cut, favoring a half-point cut instead. Earlier Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that both the central bank and the federal government have tools at their disposal to support the economy.

Source: ABC News March 15, 2020 22:56 UTC