Central Bank Watch
Czech National Bank’s 50-Basis Point Interest Rate Cut Above Expectations, But Policy Still Deemed Restrictive
February 8, 2024
A initial 25-basis point reduction of the CNB 2-week repo rate in December has been followed by a half percentage point cut at the first scheduled review of 2024. One of the seven policymakers favored cutting the rate by 75 basis point this time. Czech GDP contracted 0.4% on average in 2023, including a 0.2% […] More
National Bank of Moldova Base Rate Cut to 4.25% from 4.75%
February 6, 2024
At 4.25%, the new base rate level in Moldova is just 160 basis points above the pandemic low of 2.65% maintained from November 2020 to July 2021. In between as consumer price inflation in Moldova soared to 35% in October 2022, the central bank reference interest rate had been lifted many times and to as […] More
Central Bank Rate Cuts in Brazil and Chile of 50 Basis Points and 100 Basis Points
January 31, 2024
A short list of central bank interest changes during January up to the 30th had included Israel, Peru, Kazakhstan and Turkey, but four other joined the club on the final day of the month. Cuts of 50 basis points at the National Bank of Georgia and 25 bps at the Central Bank of Colombia have […] More
Colombian Central Bank Rate Cut
January 31, 2024
The Central Bank of Colombia’s key interest rate was lowered today by 25 basis points to 12.75%. Although a cut had been widely expected, many analysts were anticipating a 50-bp size, and indeed two of the seven committee members had favored the bigger reduction. Today’s is the second consecutive 25-basis point easing of the rate, […] More
A Change in Risk Balance Between Fed’s Twin Goals But Not Enough So to Lock and Load a Near-Term Rate Cut Just Yet
January 31, 2024
The first critical modification in today’s FOMC statement declares The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance. That’s a new idea. Fed monetary policy is guided by twin mandates that occasionally cannot be addressed simultaneously. The Fed is coming off such a period when price […] More
January 2024 FOMC Preview
January 31, 2024
The Fed policy announcement and subsequent press conference are scheduled for 14:00 EST and 14:30 EST. Macro-economic forecasts have not been updated for this meeting, and policy settings are expected to be left unchanged. So the focus will be on the statement’s first paragraph that defines U.S. growth and price trends and on what Chairman […] More
Interest Rate Cut by the National Bank of Georgia
January 31, 2024
Officials at the National Bank of Georgia reduced its key interest rate by another 50 basis points to 9.0%. 150 basis points of easing had earlier been done during the final seven months of 2023. Rate reduction since last May of 200 basis points reverses two-thirds of the prior 300 basis points of tightening implemented […] More
Half Percentage Point Cut in Kazakhstan’s Central Bank Interest Rate
January 19, 2024
The National Bank of Kazakhstan’s base rate has been lowered for the fourth time since last July. The 50-basis point decline to 15.25% brings the cumulative drop so far to 150 basis points and has been justified by the deceleration of consumer price inflation to 9.8% in December from 21.3% ten months earlier. According to […] More
Peruvian Central Bank Rate Cut
January 12, 2024
The Central Reserve Bank of Peru implemented a fifth straight 25-basis point cut in its interest rate benchmark which now stands at 6.5%, but the released statement explaining the action once again warned that “this decision does not necessarily imply a sequence of interest rate reductions.” CPI inflation in Peru has decelerated from a 299-month […] More
Bank of Israel Rate Cut
January 2, 2024
The Bank of Israel on New Years Day unveiled its first rate reduction since April 2020, slicing its benchmark by 25 basis points to 4.50%. The rate had previously been lifted progressively starting in April 2022 from a pandemic low of 0.10% to 3.25% by the end of that year and 4.75% by March 2023. Israeli […] More
