WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve foresees the economy accelerating quickly this year but still expects to keep its benchmark interest rate pinned near zero through 2023, despite concerns in financial markets about potential higher inflation.

The Fed also said Wednesday that it foresees the economy growing at a 6.5% pace this year, up from a previous projection in December of 4.2%. It also expects inflation to hit 2.4% in 2021, above its target of 2%, but expects inflation to fall back to around 2% in 2022.

The central bank also said it would continue to buy $120 billion in bonds each month to keep longer-term borrowing costs down.

The job market has a long way to go to a full recovery. With unemployment at 6.2%, the economy still has 9.5 million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic struck a year ago.