The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to keep the key interest rate at near zero.

After a Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC) meeting, the Fed said in a statement it decided to maintain the benchmark rate at a range of zero to zero-point-25 percent. 

Most FOMC members predicted that the rate will be kept unchanged until at least 2023. 

The Fed also projected that the U.S. economy will contract by three-point-seven percent this year, which is a smaller drop than the minus six-point-five percent forecast made in June, on anticipation that economic recovery will gain traction faster than expected. 

It also predicted that the unemployment rate will fall to seven-point-six percent by the end of this year, also lower than nine-point-three percent presented in the June forecast.