FED makes largest emergency cut to interest rates since the financial crisis

The Federal Reserve took the emergency step of cutting the benchmark U.S. interest rate by half a percentage point, an attempt to limit the economic and financial fallout from the coronavirus.

The Fed’s action reduced the U.S. interest rate to just below 1.25 percent, down from about 1.75 percent. Fed leaders voted unanimously in favor of the rate reduction. Powell tried to project a sense of calm during 13-minute news conference and repeatedly that the U.S. economic fundamentals still looked healthy. But he noted that “sentiment” had shifted. Some investors say the Fed’s extraordinary action raised alarms that things had deteriorated faster than expected

Source: The Washington Post
Full Content: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/03/economy-coronavirus-rate-cuts/