The US Federal Reserve has said that the economy has strengthened "moderately" but still needs stimulus measures to underpin recovery.
In its latest update, the central bank slightly lowered its forecast for economic growth this year, the BBC reports.
The bank said it expected the economy to grow by 2.3% to 2.8% this year, against its December projection of 2.3% to 3%.
The Fed noted that the job market had improved, consumer spending and business investment had increased and the housing market had strengthened.
But it did not expect unemployment to fall to 6.5%, from its current 7.7%, until 2015.
In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed said it would keep its policy of buying $85bn a month of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities.
