Britain's economy is "moving in the right direction" for the Bank of England to start cutting interest rates, Governor Andrew Bailey said as two of his colleagues dropped their vote a rate hike. The BoE's interest rate-setters voted 8-1 to keep borrowing costs at their 16-year high of 5.25% on Thursday as the two officials who had previously called for higher rates changed their stance. Most economists polled by Reuters had expected one member of the Monetary Policy Committee to continue voting for an increase in Bank Rate. But both Jonathan Haskel and Catherine Mann joined the majority...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said additional evidence of strength in the labor market and above-trend economic growth could warrant "further tightening" of monetary policy. "We are attentive to recent data showing the resilience of economic growth and demand for labor," Powell said, signaling that December is a live meeting for an interest-rate increase if overall demand and hiring don't start to slow. "Evidence of growth persistently above potential, or the tightness in the labor market is no longer easing, could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant...
The Federal Reserve held interest rates at a 22-year high for a second straight meeting, while suggesting that the recent rise in Treasury yields may weigh on the economy and inflation. "Tighter financial and credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation," the US central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a post-meeting statement published Wednesday in Washington, adding the word "financial" to language that previously referred only to credit conditions. "The extent of these...
The Bank of Japan adjusted its stimulus to allow long-term yields to edge higher while raising its inflation projections, moves that signal it is likely inching closer toward policy normalization. The yen weakened against the dollar. The BOJ will take a more flexible approach to controlling yields on 10-year government debt, according to its statement Tuesday. That marks a shift from a previous pledge to conduct daily bond buying operations at 1%, a stance that effectively drew a line in the sand at that level. The bank described 1% as a reference point in its latest...
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged for the first time in more than a year as it gauges whether an unprecedented series of hikes will succeed in subduing inflation. Following last month's knife-edge decision to lift the deposit rate to a record 4%, policymakers kept it there on Thursday — matching the predictions of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg. They reiterated in a statement that holding borrowing costs at that level for long enough will make a "substantial contribution" to bringing consumer-price gains back to the 2% target. Like...
Australia's central bank "will not hesitate" to raise interest rates further if there's a material upgrade to its inflation outlook, new Governor Michele Bullock said, in her strongest reference yet to the threat of renewed price pressures. "Our focus remains on bringing inflation back to target within a reasonable timeframe, while keeping employment growing," Bullock said in a speech Tuesday. The RBA board meets on Nov. 7 to decide policy, with money markets seeing just under a 40% chance of a hike to take the cash rate to 4.35%. While the RBA releases its updated quarterly...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is prepared to tighten policy further if appropriate. "We will make decisions about the extent of any additional policy and how...
In a statement after the September policy meeting on Tuesday, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said: "Some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to ensure that...