Federal Reserve announces first emergency rate cut since the financial crisis
The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point on Tuesday in the wake of concerns that the coronavirus outbreak could damage the US economy.
Posted — UpdatedIt's 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 1% to 1.25%.
While the fundamentals of the US economy remain strong, "the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity," the central bank said in a statement.
Just last week, several Fed officials said it was too early to cut rates in the face of the global virus outbreak. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell released a statement on Friday, saying the central bank would act as appropriate.
Market expectations for a half-percentage point cut for the Fed's March 18 meeting were 100% as of Tuesday morning.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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