WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday boosted its benchmark rate by another quarter percentage point to 4.75 percent, marking the 15th consecutive action the central bank has taken to tight credit since June 2004.

    The decision was made by the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-making arm, which concluded a two-day meeting Tuesday with Ben Bernanke at the chair for the first time. Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan as the Fed chief on Feb. 1, 2006.

    The Fed's benchmark short-term rate -- the federal funds rate, or the rate charged by commercial banks on overnight loans, directly influences other short-term rates, such as the prime rate on business loans and consumer loans linked to the prime. Enditem