Category: interest rate

US Mortgage Interest Rates Rise Further, Loan Demand Ebbs

The average interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan rose to its highest level since June 2009 last week and demand for mortgages ebbed as the impact of rising costs began to bite, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data showed on Wednesday. The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 5.37…


Key Interest Rate Could Soon Go up Another Half Percentage Point, Central Bank Says

The governor of the Bank of Canada is signalling Canada’s key interest rate could go up another half percentage point in June to help wrestle inflation under control. Tiff Macklem is appearing at the House of Commons standing committee on finance today. Two weeks ago the central bank raised its key interest rate a half…


Rates Can Only Go Up

Commentary These are words I have heard my entire adult life. Every time rates drop, a lending professional always encourages me to take out the biggest loans I can, as rates will assuredly never be this low again. For the past 40 years, rates continued to fall, despite the opinion of many experts that rates…


The Pros and Cons (Mostly Cons) of the Interest Rate Increase

On March 16, money became more expensive. Any time you buy something on credit, you are essentially “buying” money. You agree to pay that money back over time, but often pay interest on that borrowed money. The interest rate for that borrowing is determined using the federal reserve benchmark rate as a starting point. From…


Russia Cuts Key Interest Rate in Sign of Confidence in Sanctions-Hit Economy

Russia’s central bank on Friday slashed its key interest rate by three percentage points to a still-high 17 percent, justifying the move by saying that risks to financial stability had softened as emergency measures brought deposits back to banks and helped quell inflationary pressures. The 300 basis point drop will go into effect on April…


BOJ Stands Its Ground on Benchmark Yield as Global Rates Pressure Builds

TOKYO—Japan’s central bank stepped up efforts on Wednesday to keep a key bond yield below a red line, offering to buy more government debt, including through ad-hoc purchases, to hold down interest rates against a pull higher by global yields. The intervention comes as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) seeks to keep monetary policy ultra-loose,…


Fed Raises Rates, 1st Time Since 2018; Oil Prices Dropping, Why Aren’t Gas Prices? | NTD Business

The Fed will fight inflation, raising rates for the first time since 2018. But what are the risks? The price of oil has dropped $30 from its highest point a week ago, but gas prices are not easing much. Why is that? Is China trying to distance itself from Russia? Beijing recently said it has…


Bank of Canada Hikes Key Interest Rate

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate target for the first time since slashing its benchmark rate to its rock-bottom level at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The central bank increased its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 0.5 percent in a bid to help fight inflation which…


Russia Doubles Interest Rate to Boost Crashing Ruble as Sanctions Bite

Russia’s central bank has more than doubled its key interest rate and taken emergency capital control measures to try stem the collapse of its currency and shore up financial stability as tough Western sanctions over the Kremlin-ordered invasion of Ukraine sent the ruble plummeting. The Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, on Feb. 28…


EXCLUSIVE: How Nebraska Has the Lowest Unemployment Rate in the Nation: Gov. Pete Ricketts

Last month, Nebraska reported a new record-low unemployment rate in December, 1.7 percent, the lowest in the nation since data collection began in 1976. In an exclusive interview with NTD, Governor Pete Ricketts explained how Nebraska made it possible. “It’s because we have a pro-business state here,” Ricketts told “NTD Business” in an interview broadcast…