Central bank interest rates

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 3, 2020 file photo, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pauses during a news conference to discuss an announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee, in Washington. In a series of sweeping steps, the U.S. Federal Reserve will lend to small and large businesses and local governments as well as extend its bond buying programs. The announcement Monday, March 23 is part of the Fed's ongoing efforts to support the flow of credit through an economy ravaged by the viral outbreak. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Fed steps in once again to try to smooth out lending markets

Mar. 31, 2020 9:49 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is intervening once again to try to smooth out the world's lending markets, this time by lending dollars to other central banks in exchange for Treasurys. The Fed's move Tuesday marks its latest aggressive effort to keep borrowing rates down and ensure that financial...

Roads are seen deserted during a lockdown in Greater Noida, a suburb of New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Some of India's legions of poor and people suddenly thrown out of work by a nationwide stay-at-home order began receiving aid distribution Thursday, as both the public and private sector work to blunt the impact of efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Untold numbers of them are now out of work and many families have been left struggling to eat. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's central bank cuts benchmark rate to decade-low 4.4%

Mar. 27, 2020 1:42 AM EDT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s central bank on Friday cut its key interest rate by a sizable 75 basis points to 4.4% from 5.15% to ease financing troubles caused by the coronavirus outbreak and help revive the economy. That’s the lowest benchmark rate the Reserve Bank of India has charged on...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, to discuss an announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee, in Washington. In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a sizable half-percentage point in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading coronavirus. Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the coronavirus

Q&A: What did the Fed do Monday and who will it help?

Mar. 24, 2020 12:01 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve took several aggressive steps Monday to support an economy ravaged by the effects of the coronavirus. The amount of money involved is huge and the Fed's ambitions are vast: It wants to make loans available to companies and governments so they can pay bills and...

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2018, file photo, the seal of the Board of Governors of the U.S, Federal Reserve System lies embedded in the floor at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. The Federal Reserve announced late Wednesday, March 18, 2020, that it will establish an emergency lending facility to help unclog a short-term credit market that has been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak. The Fed said it will lend money to banks that purchase financial assets from money market mutual funds, including short-term IOUs known as commercial paper. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Fed ramps up lending, bond buying to calm financial markets

Mar. 20, 2020 7:48 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve moved with unprecedented force and speed Friday to pump huge amounts of cash into the financial system to ease disruptions that have escalated since the viral outbreak. The New York Federal Reserve Bank said it will offer $1 trillion of overnight loans a day through...

This photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange shows trader Patrick Casey, left, and specialist Peter Mazza as they work on the trading floor on Friday, March 20, 2020. Stocks turned lower Friday after New York became the latest major state to mandate nearly all workers stay home to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. (Nicole Pereira/NYSE via AP)

Dow drops more than 900 points, ending worst week since 2008

Mar. 20, 2020 5:57 PM EDT

Wall Street ended the week the same way it began: in full retreat from the coronavirus. Stocks fell sharply and the price of oil sank Friday as federal and state governments moved to shut down bigger and bigger swaths of the nation’s economy in the hope of limiting the spread of the outbreak. The Dow Jones...

This photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 19, 2020, shows trader Gregory Rowe, center, as he works on the trading floor. Stocks are see-sawing between gains and losses in midday trading on Wall Street Thursday, but the moves are more subdued than the wild jabs that have dominated recent weeks. (NYSE Photo by Alyssa Ringler via AP)

Asian stocks rise after Wall Street gains on aid hope

Mar. 19, 2020 11:49 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly higher Friday after modest Wall Street gains on hopes government and central bank action can shield the world economy from a looming global recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Australia and Southeast Asia advanced....

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday March 16, 2020, The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey poses for a photograph at the central bank in London. The Bank of England slashed its key interest rate to 0.1%, on Thursday March 19, 2020, its lowest-ever level, amid global economic turmoil sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. For some people the COVID-19 coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, but for some it causes severe illness.(Tolga Akmen/AP, FILE)

In response to virus, Bank of England cuts main rate to 0.1%

Mar. 19, 2020 1:48 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England slashed its main interest rate to 0.1%, the lowest level since its founding in 1694, and reactivated a bond-buying stimulus program to cushion against the economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. The bank's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee said in a statement...

Reserve Bank Gov. Philip Lowe outlines measures the bank will take to support an economy rocked by international travel restrictions, bans on large public gatherings and escalating unemployment, in Sydney, Thursday, March 19, 2020. Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low 0.25%, urgently seeking to alleviate economic shocks from the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australia cuts benchmark interest rate to record low 0.25%

Mar. 19, 2020 3:09 AM EDT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low 0.25% to ease the cost of credit and alleviate the shocks to the economy from the virus outbreak. The move comes two weeks after a cut of the same quarter of a percentage point magnitude...

Australian central bank cuts key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to 0.25% in response to new coronavirus

Mar. 18, 2020 11:44 PM EDT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian central bank cuts key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to 0.25% in response to new coronavirus.

A sign advises of the closure of a restaurant at Pike Place Market on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Seattle. Many shops in the landmark market continue to remain open, though business has dropped considerably in recent weeks. A day earlier, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all bars, restaurants, entertainment and recreation facilities to temporarily close to fight the spread of COVID-19 in the state with by far the most deaths in the Unite States from the disease. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Fed launches 2 emergency programs last seen in 2008 crisis

Mar. 17, 2020 7:30 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve put in motion two emergency lending programs Tuesday that were last deployed in response to the 2008 financial crisis, aiming to ease the flow of credit to businesses and households struggling amid the viral outbreak. The first, announced mid-morning, is intended to...

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