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Fed cuts base rate half point to 1.0 percent
AFP - Thursday, October 30
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The US Federal Reserve cuts its key lending rate a half point Wednesday to 1.0 percent in the latest move to ease a credit crisis that is strangling the US economy.
The cut in the federal funds rate followed an emergency half-point cut earlier this month coordinated with other central banks to help ease a worldwide credit crunch.
"The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures," said the Federal Open Market Committee headed by Ben Bernanke after the unanimous decision.
The statement added that "downside risks to growth remain" for the world's biggest economy.
"Business equipment spending and industrial production have weakened in recent months, and slowing economic activity in many foreign economies is damping the prospects for US exports," it said.
"Moreover, the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely to exert additional restraint on spending, partly by further reducing the ability of households and businesses to obtain credit."
The statement said the range of actions by the Fed and other banks to help get credit flowing "should help over time to improve credit conditions and promote a return to moderate economic growth."
The cuts marked the latest in a series of moves by the Fed to ease a credit crunch stemming from a collapse of the subprime US property market. The year began with the key rate at 5.25 percent.
Financial markets were banking on a half-point cut to bring the federal funds rate to 1.0 percent, matching the lows of 2003 and 2004, in an effort to ease the credit strains that have rocked the global economy and could lead to a worldwide recession.
Some predicted the US central bank, which led a coordinated global rate cut earlier this month, could go even lower in an effort to jump-start lending and ease a global credit crunch.
Despite concerns about the low rates that fueled the boom-and-bust housing cycle, analysts say the Fed has little choice but to remain aggressive to avert a serious economic calamity.
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The US Federal Reserve building is seen in Washington, DC. The US Federal Reserve cuts its key lending rate half a point Wednesday to 1.0 percent in the latest move to ease a credit crisis that is strangling the US economy.
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