Published June 17, 2026, 2:00 p.m. EDT | Updated June 17, 2026, 2:15 p.m. EDT
Federal Reserve Announces June Interest Rate Decision Amid Iran War This is a developing story on the June 2026 FOMC interest rate decision and will be updated with more details.
THE Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would keep interest rates steady due to concerns about high inflation amid the Iran war, as Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s tenure as head of the central bank begins in earnest.
Fed policymakers voted to leave the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The move follows the central bank’s decision to keep rates unchanged in January, March and April, following three successive cuts of 25 basis points in September, October and December, which closed out last year.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank committee responsible for monetary policy decisions, voted 12-0 to keep interest rates unchanged.
Policymakers noted in the FOMC statement that inflation remains high above the central bank’s 2% target, which it said “partly reflects supply shocks that have led to price increases in some sectors, including energy.”
They also noted that job creation has kept pace with the labor force, while reiterating their support for the dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment. The policymakers added that “economic activity is growing at a strong pace despite elevated uncertainty due, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East.”
The June FOMC monetary policy meeting was the first led by Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The FOMC also released a summary of economic projections, also known as a dot plot, which showed that nine of the 18 voting members forecast one interest rate hike before the end of 2026, and six forecast two 25 basis point hikes. They forecast core PCE inflation at 3.6% at the end of this year, with unemployment at 4.3% and real GDP up 2.2%.
Fed Chairman Warsh will hold his first press conference after an interest rate decision at 2:30 p.m. ET. His predecessor, Jerome Powellremains a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors and a voting member of the FOMC.
