The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday for a sixth straight meeting, keeping the level at a 23-year high to fight stubborn price increases.

At the end of a two-day meeting, central bank policy makers decided unanimously that the Fed would keep the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.25-5.50 percent, citing a "lack of further progress" towards its two percent inflation target.

US inflation data this year has not given Federal Reserve policymakers enough confidence to reduce interest rates, and it is likely that this "will take longer than previously expected," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

While the central bank is prepared to hold rates at a high level for as long as appropriate, Powell added that it is "unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike."

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