Central Bank Watch
Serbia’s Fifth Straight Central Bank Interest Rate Hike
August 11, 2022
The National Bank of Serbia today agreed to raise its policy rate by 25 basis points to a 3-year high of 3.0%. The move follows four earlier consecutive increases of 50 basis in April, May and June followed by a 25-basis point increase in July. Serbian CPI inflation climbed to a 9-year high of 11.9% […] More
First Rate Hike Since Late 2018 in Thailand… More to Come
August 10, 2022
Thailand’s central bank finally climbed on the bandwagon of interest rate normalization. A 25-basis point hike today to 0.75% was the first increase since December 2018 when the policy rate was raised from 1.50% to 1.75%. By a 6-1 vote with one policymaker preferring to kick of tightening with a move of 50 basis points, […] More
Reserve Bank of India Raises Interest Rate
August 5, 2022
The Reserve Bank of India engineered a third hike of its policy interest rate, lifting such by 50 basis points to 5.40%. This matched June’s incremental rise, which had followed an initial 40-basis point increase in May. The rate is now at its highest level since September 2019. A released statement explained today’s move: With […] More
British Interest Rate Hike
August 4, 2022
The Bank of England’s 50-basis point interest rate hike to 1.75% also matched expectations, but the decision was not a unanimous one. Committee member Tenreyro preferred an increase of 25 basis points, the size of the previous four increases done in February, March, May and June. The Bank of England’s initial rate hike last December […] More
Brazil’s Selic Interest Rate Hiked 50 Basis Points to 13.75%
August 3, 2022
The monetary policy committee at the Central Bank of Brazil, known as Copom, today implemented its twelfth interest rate hike since March 2021. After cutting the rate by 250 basis points during 2020, the rate level when normalization began was 2.0%. Seven increases during 2021 had totaled 725 basis points, and today’s move was the […] More
August 2, 2022
The Reserve Bank of Australia‘s Officials Cash Rate was raised to 1.85% from 1.35%. This was the third straight monthly hike of half a percentage point. An initial 15-basis point move from the record low of 0.10% was done in May. A released statement predicts a further rise in Australian CPI inflation to 7.75% this […] More
Armenian Interest Rate Hike to 9.5%
August 2, 2022
The Central Bank of Armenia had cut its refinancing rate in 2020 to a 10-year low of 4.5%. Increases from May 2021 had totaled 325 basis points by the end of that year and have been followed three more moves so far in 2022: 25 basis points in February, 125 bps in March and 50 […] More
FOMC Statement: No Surprises…. Decision on Size of September Meeting Not Made
July 27, 2022
The size of the interest rate hike, 75 basis points, matched expectations and the previous increase in mid-June. More increase in the future “will be appropriate.” Quantitative tightening that reduces the size of the Fed balance sheet by via not fully reinvesting matured principal of maturing assets, will proceed on the scheduled outlined in May. […] More
FOMC Preview
July 27, 2022
The fourth straight hike in the federal funds target is expected to match the previous increase of 75 basis points on June 15 and bring the cumulative rise this year to 225 basis points. With the new target range ceiling of 2.5%, policy has returned to what officials generally consider a neutral stance, that is […] More
Analysts Surprised by Another Interest Rate Hike in Kazakhstan
July 25, 2022
The National Bank of Kazakhstan, one of the former members of the USSR, became the latest central bank with a policy rate increase to fend off runaway inflation. The interest rate increase of 50 basis points to 14.5% follows earlier increases of 50 basis points in April, 325 basis points in February, 50 bps […] More
