Since early last year, the F.O.M.C. has significantly tightened the stance of monetary policy. We’ve raised our policy interest rate by 5 ¼ percentage points and have continued to reduce our securities holdings at a brisk pace. We’ve covered a lot of ground and the full effects of our tightening have yet to be felt. Today, we decided to leave our policy interest rate unchanged and to continue to reduce our securities holdings. Looking ahead, we are in a position to proceed carefully in determining the extent of additional policy firming that may be appropriate. We are committed to achieving and sustaining a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to our 2 percent goal over time.