Fed raises interest rates but outlook unchanged

The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point but left its rate outlook for the coming years unchanged even as policymakers projected a short-term acceleration in US economic growth.

The move, coming at the final policy meeting of 2017 and on the heels of a flurry of relatively bullish economic data, represented a victory for a central bank that has vowed to continue a gradual tightening of monetary policy. Having raised its benchmark overnight lending rate three times this year, the Fed projected three more increases in each of 2018 and 2019 before a long-run level of 2.8% is reached.