FEDERAL RESERVE: Lowers Interest Rates as Expected

By Staff Reporters

BREAKING NEWS

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Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve Bank just said that it is cutting its benchmark interest rate by 0.50 percentage points, marking the first reduction in four years and moving to ease borrowing costs as inflation-weary consumers are grappling with high rates on everything from mortgages to credit cards.

It is the first drop in the federal funds rate — or what banks charge each other for short-term loans — since the U.S. central bank lowered rates to nearly zero in March 2020 amid an economic standstill caused by the pandemic.

But as prices surged during the health crisis, the FOMC repeatedly hiked rates into a target range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest in 23 years, in an effort to curb inflation.

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