Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Secondary Navigation
Top Stories
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Photos
Search
Search:
Fed eyes new rate cut to ease credit crisis
AFP - Wednesday, October 29
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The US Federal Reserve is set to deliver another cut in interest rates to offer more help to an economy whose growth is being choked by a squeeze in credit.
The Federal Open Market Committee headed by chairman Ben Bernanke was expected to announce a decision around 1815 GMT Wednesday, concluding a two-day meeting.
Financial markets were banking on a half-point cut in the federal funds target to bring the rate to 1.0 percent, matching the lows of 2003 and 2004.
Some predicted the US central bank, which led a coordinated global rate cut earlier this month, could go even lower in effort to jump-start lending and ease a global credit crunch .
The futures market on Tuesday was pricing in a 62 percent chance of a half-point cut. Yet the market also saw a 38 percent chance of a deeper cut of 75 basis points that would leave the rate at a historic low of just 0.75 percent.
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.
"The Fed is staring this recession in the face and while the members know that a cut in rates is not going to do much, it is now all about creating confidence," said Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors, who called for a half-point cut to 1.0 percent.
"At 1.0 percent on the funds rate, the Fed has no place to go and the FOMC members are not likely to be happy. But the real issue is stabilizing the credit markets and that is beginning to happen. Next comes figuring out how to get banks to lend again. That may be more difficult as who wants to commit money in a recession?"
Augustine Faucher at Moody's Economy.com predicted a half-point cut on Wednesday followed by another half-point reduction in December to lower the funds rate to 0.5 percent, which would be the lowest level since the rate began in 1954.
"The financial crisis has damaged the real economy. The US will be in recession until spring, and the US unemployment rate will peak somewhere near 7.5 percent in the middle of 2009," Faucher said.
"Further rate cuts would make it very inexpensive for banks to borrow from one another. The Fed is hoping that low rates, along with efforts to increase liquidity, will spur greater lending and borrowing, unfreezing credit markets."
He said that the combination of Fed interest rate cuts, increased liquidity, and fiscal stimulus "will be enough to bring the economy out of recession in the second quarter of next year" but added that "the financial system remains on edge and worries about global recession continue to increase."
Yet analysts say the Fed move would be largely symbolic because the actual rate of overnight interbank loans is in fact well below the Fed target because of the extraordinary efforts to pump liquidity into a strained banking system.
John Ryding at RDQ Economics said the Fed target rate is largely "irrelevant" during the current market turmoil, with the actual overnight rate since October 16 between 0.60 and 0.93 percent for these types of interbank loans.
At the same time, many consumer and business lending rates have remained high. The average mortgage rate last week was at 6.3 percent, according to Bankrate.com, above the level of earlier this year.
With monetary policy unable to bring down these rates, the Fed may have to use additional tools such as buying long-term Treasury bonds in an effort to bring down the rates used as benchmarks for many loans.
"The Fed isn't going to sit still while this outlook unfolds," said Scott Anderson, economist at Wells Fargo.
He expected the Fed to cut rates and "they could even follow that with direct purchases of longer-term Treasuries, corporate bonds or mortgage-backed securities if the Fed funds rate cuts don't do the trick of lowering the average interest rate on corporate and consumer borrowing."
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Enlarge Photo
Federal US Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed is widely expected to deliver another cut in interest to offer more help to a struggling economy.
Most Popular – Top Stories
Viewed
When men see red, they see hot: study
World's fattest man weds friend's widow
Desperate pleas end in despair as starlet's nephew found dead
Markets rebound ahead of key US meeting
Australian central bank intervenes as dollar falls again
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology