From US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first rate reduction since 2020
The seal of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is seen ahead of a press conference by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on September 18, 2024. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)
The US Federal Reserve cut its key lending rate by half a percentage-point in its first reduction since the pandemic, sharply lowering borrowing costs shortly before November’s presidential election.
Policymakers voted 11-to-1 in favor of lowering the US central bank’s benchmark lending rate to between 4.75% and 5.00%, the Fed announced in a statement. They also penciled in an additional half-point of cuts before the end of the year.
