The U.S. Federal Reserve has announced its first interest rate cut in nine months, reducing its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point. 

After a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed said in a statement Wednesday that it has decided to lower the target for its key lending rate to the new range of four to four-point-25 percent.

This marks the first rate cut in nine months, following five consecutive holds since the Fed trimmed rates by 25 basis points in December of last year. 

It also represents the first rate cut since the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term.

The FOMC projected two additional quarter-point rate cuts over the remainder of the year.

The latest cut narrows the gap between the Fed’s rate and that of the Bank of Korea to one-point-75 percentage points.