U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had removed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from consideration for an open seat on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, but said he would "very shortly" announce his choice. In an interview with CNBC, Trump said Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's decision to vacate her seat early was a "pleasant surprise." The departure of Kugler, whose term would have ended on January 31, appears to have accelerated Trump's planning for the U.S. central bank, giving him an immediate opening to fill with a person who could also be promoted to the top...
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee on Thursday reiterated his support for further interest rate cuts and his openness to doing them more slowly, remarks that underscore the U.S. central bank's debate that it's not about whether, but over how fast and how far, borrowing costs should be lowered. Some Fed policymakers worry that progress lowering inflation may have stalled and call for a cautious approach, while others want to make sure the labor market doesn't cool further, suggesting the need for continued rate cuts. And over all of those differences hangs the uncertainty of...
It remains uncertain how far interest rates can fall, though the initial reductions made by the U.S. central bank are a vote of confidence that inflation is returning to its 2% target, Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid said on Tuesday. "The decision to lower rates is an acknowledgement of the ... growing confidence that inflation is on a path to reach the Fed's 2% objective - a confidence based in part on signs that both labor and product markets have come into better balance in recent months," Schmid said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. He said...
U.S. President Joe Biden pledged a $4 billion U.S. contribution to the World Bank's International Development Association fund for the world's poorest countries, two sources with knowledge of the commitment said on Monday. Biden announced the U.S. pledge during a closed session of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The amount is a record and substantially exceeds the $3.5 billion Washington committed in the previous IDA fund replenishment round in December 2021. A White House spokesperson in Washington declined comment...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the recent performance of the US economy has been "remarkably good," giving central bankers room to lower interest rates at a careful pace. "The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said Thursday in prepared remarks in Dallas. "The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully." US central bankers began lowering borrowing costs in September with an aggressive half-percentage-point cut, and then lowered the policy rate again by a...
The Federal Reserve approved its second consecutive interest rate cut Thursday, moving at a less aggressive pace than before but continuing its efforts to rightsize monetary policy. In a follow-up to September's big half percentage point reduction, the Federal Open Market Committee lowered its benchmark overnight borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point, or 25 basis points, to a target range of 4.50%-4.75%. The rate sets what banks charge each other for overnight lending but often influences consumer debt instruments such as mortgages, credit cards and auto loans. Markets had widely...
According to a statement by the Federal Reserve (Fed), Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with United States (US) President Donald Trump on Thursday, where the head of the Fed reiterated that the Fed's...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...