WASHINGTON (AP) -- With oil prices soaring and the housing market sinking, the Federal Reserve is likely to combat the economic turmoil with more interest rate cuts.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues were wrapping up a two-day meeting Wednesday and many economists believe they will announce that they have decided to follow September's half-point cut in the federal funds rate with a quarter-point cut at this meeting.
"They are going to cut rates," predicted Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "The economy is weakening and financial markets remain unsettled."
Many analysts said this rate reduction probably will not be the last either, as the central bank keeps reducing rates to help the economy overcome a host of problems.
The Fed cut the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, for the first time in four years at its September meeting, reducing it to 4.75 percent. Responding to that move, commercial banks cut their prime lending rate, the benchmark for millions of consumer and business loans, by a half-point as well to 7.75 percent.
The economy's troubles include the worst slump in housing in more than two decades and a credit crunch that roiled financial markets this summer when investors suddenly became concerned about mounting losses from defaults on subprime mortgages.
With lenders tightening mortgage standards, marking it harder for prospective buyers to qualify for loans, and defaults continuing to rise, the slump in housing has deepened......
Source: Finance yahoo
Label: Fed Rate,
