Federal Reserve policy makers are ready to hold off new measures to flood the economy with more funds while keeping interest rates steady near zero.

It should be reminded that the U.S. central bank had cut interest rates to near zero in December in order to combat the recession and paralyze credit crunch. On the other hand, the U.S. central bank had committed to buy $300 billion in longer-term Treasury securities and was expanding its purchases of debt and mortgage-backed securities issued by government-sponsored mortgage enterprises by $850 billion in March, with the aim of boosting lending.

As a result, the signs that the deepest and longest decline in the economy in decades might be moderating. However, the situation could be influenced by the release of the initial estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). Analysts' median forecast for the GDP has fallen at an annual rate of 4.9 percent after tumbling 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Nonetheless, it is expected that the report will show a slight recovery in consumer spending after a collapse in the second half of 2008.