The US Federal Reserve moved to hike interest rates for the first time since 2019, in an effort to curb runaway inflation.
It’s the first time benchmark interest rates have risen substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing rates up by a quarter percentage point, or 25 basis points. This brings rates into the range of 0.25 to 0.5 percent.
The shift will drive up costs of consumer borrowing and credit, slowing economic growth.
The Fed also indicated that they will be raising rates at each of the following six remaining meetings in 2022, aiming for a rate of 1.9 percent by the end of the year.
The vote was unanimous aside from one dissenter, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard, who was aiming for a larger increase of 50 basis points.