Fed cuts interest rate to near-zero, moves to prop up mortgage market

Acknowledging that the full scope of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy is unknowable, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Sunday night said the Fed is willing to be patient as it cuts interest rates. In the most drastic actions since the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve Sunday afternoon announced it cut its benchmark interest rate to near zero, and said it would buy hundreds of billions of dollars in assets in order to blunt the economic impact of the pandemic.

 Powell said during a conference call in the evening that he expects economic activity to be weak in the second quarter, and that the Fed is “willing to be patient” and hold interest rates at zero until “we’re confident the economy has weathered recent events.”