Interest Rate Changes

September 2, 2010

European Central Bank maintains interest rate at 1.0%

"At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively"

The last change was a decrease from 1.25% to 1.0% May 7, 2009.

The Governing Council's next interest rate announcement is scheduled to take place October 7.

August 10, 2010

Federal Reserve maintains target interest rate within the range 0% to 0.25%

The Federal Open Market Committee today voted to maintain its target range for the benchmark federal funds interest rate within the range 0% to 0.25%. The last change was a decrease from 1.0% December 16, 2008.

"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that the pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months. Household spending is increasing gradually, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising; however, investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak and employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. Housing starts remain at a depressed level. Bank lending has continued to contract. Nonetheless, the Committee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability, although the pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated.

Measures of underlying inflation have trended lower in recent quarters and, with substantial resource slack continuing to restrain cost pressures and longer-term inflation expectations stable, inflation is likely to be subdued for some time.

The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.

To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve's holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities.¹ The Committee will continue to roll over the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities as they mature.

The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability."

The FOMC's next interest rate announcement is scheduled to take place September 21.

August 5, 2010

Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and Maintains the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion

The B of E Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain its official Bank Rate at 0.5% p.a. The last change was a decrease from 1.0% to 0.5% March 5, 2009.

"The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion."

The MPC's next interest rate announcement is scheduled to take place September 9.

[ Home ] [ Up ]