The consumer inflation in the US is now around 4.9 per cent, falling sharply from a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in June 2022….reports Asian Lite News
The US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee has paused the key interest rate in its latest meeting on Wednesday. The policy rate has been maintained at 5.0-5.25 per cent, which was near zero after the outbreak of COVID-19.
Barring the latest pause, the US central bank has hiked the interest rate for the tenth consecutive time which was necessitated in the fight against soaring inflation. “Holding the target range steady at this meeting allows the Committee to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy,” US Federal Reserve monetary policy statement said.
The Committee said it is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 per cent objective.
The consumer inflation in the US is now around 4.9 per cent, falling sharply from a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in June 2022.
“The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals,” the US monetary policy statement said, hinting it may further hike rates if the need arises.
NZ slips into recession
The New Zealand economy has slipped into recession after the country’s central bank aggressively raised interest rates to a 14-year high, according to quarterly figures released by the statistics department on Thursday.
Stats NZ said the GDP fell 0.1 per cent in the March 2023 quarter, following a 0.7 per cent fall in the December 2022 quarter, Xinhua news agency reported.
The second consecutive quarter of negative economic growth signals the start of an economic recession.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has increased the cost of borrowing sharply since October 2021.
Ot was one of the first countries to start raising rates in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and has outpaced the US Federal Reserve.
Last month, the RBNZ increased its main interest rate to 5.5 per cent.
“Today’s outcome fits the definition of a technical recession by the barest of margins,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said on Thursday, adding the economy was affected by the second-largest natural disaster to hit New Zealand in the first quarter.
This result reflects the impact of the Auckland floods and cyclone Gabrielle, with estimates of hundreds of millions of dollars of lost production and activity across agriculture, forestry, fishing, transport and manufacturing due to the extensive flooding, Robertson said.