Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“The Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday for the first time in three years, a sharp reversal that began taking back cuts it made last year.” The decision to “raise the benchmark federal-funds rate range by a quarter point to between 3.75% and 4%” was unanimous and most “officials penciled in one more hike this year in interest-rate projections released after their meeting.”
Tags: 3.75%, Benchmark, Decision, Fed, Federal-funds rate, Hike, Interest rates, Projections, Quarter-point, Raise, Reversal, Unanimous
Financial Times (September 10)
“Central bankers on both shores of the Atlantic are under pressure from many sides — political circles, financial markets, public opinion — to cut interest rates.” But the European Central Bank (ECB) faces distinctly different circumstances than the Fed or BoE. The ECB has already cut rates to 3.75 per cent, which “is already a solid 1.5 percentage points below” the Fed’s rate and inflation is less controlled. “The ECB has no room to cut rates.” It should “maintain a moderately restrictive stance on monetary policy to make further progress on inflation.”
Tags: 3.75%, BOE, Central bankers, ECB, Fed, Financial markets, Inflation, Interest rates, Monetary policy, Political, Pressure, Public opinion, Restrictive
