The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point for the fourth consecutive meeting, as it continues to tackle persistently high inflation amid recession fears. Upon concluding a two-day meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank said it will lift its target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75 to 4.00 percent as widely expected, the highest level since December 2007.