Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Half Percentage Point
The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point on Tuesday, a bold attempt to give the US economy a jolt in the face of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.
It was the first unscheduled, emergency rate cut since 2008, and it also marks the biggest one-time cut since then. The new benchmark interest rate is a range of between 1% and 1.25%.
A bad sign for the economy
Although the fundamentals of the US economy remain strong, “the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity,” the central bank said in a statement.
