Federal Funds Rate

Just when it is trying to make credit more readily available to revive the economy, the Federal Reserve found itself battling a surge in interest rates Thursday after a key short-term rate hit an all-time high of 100%. The Fed rushed to pump money into the banking system after a year-end dash for cash by banks sent the overnight federal funds rate surging, with some banks paying up to a record 100% Wednesday. That was nearly 15 times the 7% level that has prevailed recently.

The Federal Reserve said it intends to continue aggressive measures to stimulate the economy and made a major policy shift to focus more directly on boosting the job market. Fed policymakers said they would keep interest rates at historically low levels until unemployment drops below 6.5%. It's likely to keep the Fed's short-term interest rates at historically low levels well into 2015. The move marked the first time that Fed policymakers have tied themselves to an explicit unemployment goal.

The Federal Reserve appears to have tightened credit a bit, moving to snuff out inflation before it becomes a problem, analysts said Monday. They pointed to two telltale signs: An unexpectedly tight allocation of reserves by the Fed on Monday and a rise in the federal funds rate--the amount banks charge each other for short-term funds used as reserves.

The Federal Reserve's announcement that short-term interest rates are likely to stay low for two years or more drew the usual mix of catcalls and huzzahs, with critics saying the Fed was dooming the country to debilitating inflation and supporters saying it was sensibly encouraging economic growth. Some veteran Fed watchers, however, complained that Chairman Ben S. Bernanke was revealing too much about the board's thinking, which used to be cloaked in the kind of secrecy reserved for missile launch codes and CIA threat assessments.

Bond prices fell in light trading Wednesday, reflecting concerns about high interest rates. The Treasury's closely watched 30-year bond was down 1/4 point, or $2.50 for every $1,000 in face value. Its yield, which moves inversely to price and is an indicator of interest rate trends, rose to 9% from 8.97% late Tuesday. Analysts said the market was worried about the surging federal funds rate, the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans.

The Federal Reserve, apparently worried about weakness in key manufacturing industries, has moved to ease credit slightly, government officials and analysts said Tuesday. The key federal funds rate--what banks charge each other on overnight loans of reserves--moved down to 8.625% from 8.75%. The Fed can push the federal funds rate up or down by removing funds from the banking system or injecting funds into it. In response to the latest move, traders said, the stock market pulled out of its dive.

The Federal Reserve is about to send the most dramatic signal yet of its resolve to fight inflation, many private economists predicted Monday on the eve of a meeting of central bank policy-makers. These analysts are looking for sizable half-point increases in two key interest rates when the central bank meets today. They said the credit tightening would trigger an almost immediate half-point increase in commercial banks' prime lending rates, the benchmark for many business and consumer loans.

Fed Sets Mark for Holding Steady: The policy-making arm of the Federal Reserve, under the guidance of Chairman Alan Greenspan, set a record this week for the longest period in which it has neither raised nor lowered interest rates. The Fed has not changed its perceived target for the federal funds rate since Sept. 4, 1992, a lapse of more than seven months, economists said. At that time, the Fed lowered its funds rate target to 3% from the 3.25% set in July.

The Federal Reserve Board signaled its commitment Tuesday to quash any evidence of inflation by raising its two benchmark interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point each, marking the central bank's sixth and largest increase of the year. The Federal Reserve took the aggressive move in the face of mounting criticism that it has already gone too far this year to restrain economic growth and job creation to curb the potential threat of rising prices.

Federal Reserve policy-makers met in private Tuesday to discuss the course of credit policy over the next several weeks and whether interest rates can move lower without refueling inflation. The decisions made by the Federal Open Market Committee at its closed meeting will not be made public until Oct. 6, a few days after the next scheduled meeting. But private economists expect the policy-makers to decide to hold steady on interest rates for the time being.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy still needs low interest rates and that the central bank will be ready to tighten credit "at the appropriate time." "The economy continues to require the support of accommodative monetary policies," Bernanke said Thursday in prepared testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, repeating parts of a statement to the panel from last month. "However, we have been working to ensure that we have the tools to reverse, at the appropriate time, the currently very high degree of monetary stimulus."

Steady as it goes, Federal Reserve policymakers declared in their post-meeting statement Tuesday. They left their benchmark short-term interest rate unchanged in the range of zero to 0.25% and once again pledged to keep it low for an "extended period" -- retaining the phrase they've used for the last year. The central bank continued to sound relatively upbeat about the economy, saying the data it looks at suggest that "economic activity has continued to strengthen and that the labor market is stabilizing."

How much of an economic recovery can we stand? With the Federal Reserve now looking serious about taking away some of the unprecedented support it has provided to the banking system and the economy, policymakers are posing a whole new set of challenges for financial markets. Stocks, bonds, real estate and commodities all have fed off cheap credit for the last year, which is why even the hint of higher short-term interest rates could be unsettling for them. But not so far: On Friday, U.S. markets were generally calm after the Fed late Thursday announced that it would raise the "discount rate" that banks pay for loans from the Fed to 0.75% from 0.50%.

The Federal Reserve took its most notable step so far toward unwinding some of the extraordinary measures it took to prop up the economy during the financial crisis. The central bank Thursday raised the interest rate that banks pay to borrow money during emergencies. The hike in the so-called discount rate to 0.75% from 0.5% was widely expected and does not foreshadow an immediate rise in consumer loan rates. The central bank went out of its way to stress that it expected the federal funds rate, which influences credit card and other consumer loan rates, to remain "exceptionally low" for "an extended period."

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates near zero and said that the economy, while on more stable footing, was likely to remain weak for some time. The Fed gave no indication that, despite improving signs in the economy, it was considering imminent hikes in the key federal funds rate, the rate banks charge one another for overnight loans. Policymakers at the central bank voted 10-0 to maintain the rate between zero and 0.25%, where it has been since December, and reiterated that it would likely keep it there for "an extended period."

A new Federal Reserve strategy to limit foreclosures on mortgages it controls could shed light on the contours of a broader plan being developed by the Obama administration to help keep people in their homes.

The Federal Reserve Board moved to push down interest rates today, forcing the first drop in rates in seven months through an aggressive injection of money into the banking system, economists said. The move came a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan surprised the market by saying that because of a potential credit crunch, the central bank may ease up in its monetary policy. Analysts predicted that this would involve an effort to push market rates lower.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, seeking ways to stabilize money markets, will ask Congress for authority to pay interest on commercial-bank reserves this year, a person familiar with the discussions said. The central bank isn't authorized by Congress to begin making such payments until 2011. Allowing interest on bank reserves may enable the Fed to pump more funds into the banking system without pushing its main policy rate lower, in effect separating action to boost liquidity from monetary policy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, seeking ways to stabilize money markets, will ask Congress for authority to pay interest on commercial-bank reserves this year, a person familiar with the discussions said. The central bank isn't authorized by Congress to begin making such payments until 2011. Allowing interest on bank reserves may enable the Fed to pump more funds into the banking system without pushing its main policy rate lower, in effect separating action to boost liquidity from monetary policy.