FILE PHOTO OF FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN, 2002-10-23 (photo)

The Federal Reserve kept U.S. interest rates steady at four-decade lows as expected on Tuesday, saving its ammunition for 2003 as it waits to see whether the economy can weather the recent "soft spot. The unanimous decision by the U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee leaves the trend-setting federal funds rate at 1.25 percent, the level it hit after the Fed slashed borrowing costs by a bold half percentage point in November. The Federal Reserve Board Chairman Greenspan addresses the Conference on Productivity in the 21st Century at American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington in this October 23, 2002 file photo. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang/FILE HK/JP