Federal Reserve officials held off from raising borrowing costsand scaled back forecasts for how high interest rates will risethis year, citing the potential impact of weaker global growth andfinancial-market turmoil on the U.S. economy.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept the target rangefor the benchmark federal funds rate at 0.25 percent to 0.5percent, the central bank said in a statement Wednesday following atwo-day meeting in Washington. The median of policy makers' updatedquarterly projections saw the rate at 0.875 percent at the end of2016, implying two quarter-point increases this year, down fromfour forecast in December.

“Thecommittee currently expects that, with gradual adjustments in thestance of monetary policy, economic activity will expand at amoderate pace and labor market indicators will continue tostrengthen,” the FOMC said. “However, global economic and financialdevelopments continue to pose risks.”