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Fed Slashes Benchmark Interest Rate by 50bps in First Cut Since 2020
18.9.2024
On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate for the first time since March 2020. The Sept. 18, 2024 rate cut amounted to 50 basis points (bps), a notably bigger adjustment than many analysts anticipated. According to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) press...
Fed Maintains Interest Rates, Seeks ‘Greater Confidence’ on Inflation Goal; Bitcoin and Gold Hold Steady
31.1.2024
On Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2023, the U.S. Federal Reserve opted to maintain the federal funds rate unchanged. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) additionally stated that the committee “does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence...
Fed Observer Jim Grant Foresees Long-Term High Rates as FOMC Meeting Approaches
11.12.2023
Market participants, including both investors and traders, have their attention keenly set on the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, slated for Dec. 13, 2023. There is widespread speculation about whether Fed Chair Jerome Powell will continue to uphold the current elevated...
US Inflation Cools to 4% Annual Rate, Setting Stage for Fed’s Decision on Interest Rates
13.6.2023
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index (CPI) report, released on Tuesday, reveals that inflation in the United States has eased to a yearly rate of 4%. The latest development arrives just ahead of the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for June...
Economist Larry Summers Urges Fed to Consider Half-Point Rate Increase in July
3.6.2023
Larry Summers, the American economist and former U.S. Treasury Secretary, believes that should the U.S. Federal Reserve refrain from increasing the benchmark interest rate this month, a half-point rate hike may be necessary for July. As per the CME Fedwatch tool, there is a 74% likelihood that...
South African Rand Plunges to New Low After Benchmark Interest Rate Is Raised to 14-Year High
29.5.2023
The South African fiat currency’s exchange rate versus the U.S. dollar plunged to a new all-time low of 19.7640 per dollar on May 25 just moments after the South African Reserve Bank raised the benchmark interest rate to its highest since 2009. Although the currency has since made some...
US Central Bank Expected to Raise Lending Rate by 25bps: Experts Predict Final Hike of 2023
30.4.2023
After the most recent increase in the federal funds rate, the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to raise the lending rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.25% in three days, according to expectations. A recent poll of 105 economists revealed that 94 of them predict a 25bps rate hike will occur during...
Experts Predict More Bank Failures in the US Following Interest Rate Hike and Unsettled Banking Crisis
27.3.2023
After the recent bank collapses in the U.S., a number of people believe that more failures are coming following the Federal Reserve’s increase of the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps). American journalist Charles Gasparino insists that Wall Street’s “low-rate”...
Federal Reserve Raises Benchmark Interest Rate by 0.25%, Disinflationary Process ‘Early,’ Says Powell
1.2.2023
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark federal funds rate by 0.25% on Wednesday after markets priced in near 100% certainty the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) would codify the quarter-point increase. The FOMC statement further detailed that ongoing rate increases are anticipated...
Bank of Japan’s Kuroda Shocks Markets by Raising the Benchmark Rate to 0.5% From 0.25%
20.12.2022
The Japanese yen is up 3.42% against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday as the Bank of Japan surprised the world by deciding to allow the benchmark interest rate to rise to 0.5% from 0.25%. The Japanese central bank was one of the only banks worldwide to hold off on raising benchmark interest rates,...
Canada’s Tiff Macklem Insists ‘Rate Increases Are Warranted,’ Canadian Columnist Says Central Bank’s Governor ‘Needs to Go’
10.10.2022
Canadians have been dealing with rising inflation and the Bank of Canada raising the benchmark interest rate following more than two years of monetary easing tactics. On Sunday, Canadian central bank governor Tiff Macklem explained that “reasonably good harvests” will contribute...
Bank of Japan Intervenes in Foreign Exchange Markets After Yen Slips to 24-Year Low
22.9.2022
While the greenback has been rising higher, the Japanese yen tapped a 24-year low and Japan decided to intervene in foreign exchange markets (forex) for the first time since 1998. Reports say the Bank of Japan conducted the first forex intervention in 24 years, after the Japanese central bank kept...
Latest Ghana Benchmark Rate Hike the Largest on Record — President Promises Action Against ‘Unacceptable Depreciation of the Cedi’
23.8.2022
After seeing Ghana’s inflation rate surge to 31.7% in July, the Bank of Ghana responded by hiking the benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points. In addition to the rate hike, the central bank said it will gradually raise banks’ primary reserve requirements. One expert has said...
Analysts Suspect the Fed Will Bump Federal Funds Rate by 75 bps Next Week, Others Predict the ‘Biggest Hike in Decades’
20.7.2022
Following the recent U.S. consumer price index report that indicated inflation in America has reached a 40-year high, many expect the Federal Reserve to hike the benchmark interest rate by 75 to 100 basis points (bps) on July 26. Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions expects the Fed to raise...
Zimbabwe to Hike Benchmark Rate to 200%, Central Bank Minted Gold Coins to Act as Store of Value
28.6.2022
After seeing the country’s inflation rise to 191.6% in June, Zimbabwean monetary authorities said they have resolved to increase the benchmark interest rate to 200% per annum. In addition, the central bank said it will introduce gold coins which will act as an instrument that will...
Survey Shows 87% of Americans Are Stressed About Inflation and Rising Costs of Everyday Goods
21.5.2022
As the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of prices for goods and services, hit another all-time high in April reaching 8.3%, Americans are stressed out more than ever about inflation and money. A recent survey published by the American Psychological Association shows that 87% of U.S. residents...
US Central Bank Raises Rates by Half a Percentage Point, Fed’s Powell Says Similar Hikes Are on the Table
4.5.2022
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate on Wednesday and the increase was the biggest rate hike in two decades. “Inflation is much too high,” the central bank’s chair Jerome Powell said after the Fed raised rates by 0.5%. FOMC Decides to Hike Rate by 3/4...
With an ‘Aggressive’ Fed Rate Hike Expected Next Week, Stocks and Crypto Markets Lose Billions
1.5.2022
Investors will be focused on the U.S. central bank this Wednesday as Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to raise the benchmark interest rate aggressively. The top U.S. stock indexes saw significant losses at the end of the week, and the Nasdaq composite saw its worst four-month starting...
Fed Chair Jerome Powell Hints at Aggressive Rate Hikes After Saying ‘Inflation Is Much Too High’
21.3.2022
The 16th chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell said that America’s “inflation is much too high” on Monday, and he further explained that the U.S. central bank is willing to raise rates more aggressively. Off the heels of the first benchmark interest rate increase since...
Fed Raises Benchmark Interest Rate by 25 Basis Points
16.3.2022
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement that it will raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, the first time the Federal Funds rate is raised since 2018