Fed verlaagt rente naar 0 tot 0,25 procent

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Fed verlaagt rente tot bijna nul

WASHINGTON (ANP) - Het Amerikaanse stelsel van centrale banken, de Federal Reserve, verlaagt het belangrijkste rentetarief naar een bandbreedte tussen de 0 en 0,25 procent. Daartoe heeft het bestuur van de Fed dinsdag besloten. Tot dusver bedroeg de rente 1 procent.

Met de renteverlaging, die verder gaat dan de meeste analisten hadden ingeschat, hoopt de Fed een verdere verzwakking van de Amerikaanse economie tegen te gaan. Het is de tiende keer in ruim een jaar dat de rente in de Verenigde Staten omlaag gaat.

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FOMC cuts rates to record low range of 0 to 0.25%

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve pulled out all the stops in its campaign to save the U.S. economy Tuesday, slashing interest rates to just about zero and promising to try an array of new economic measures to stimulate spending.

The central bank's Federal Open Markets Committee established at target rate for the federal funds rate of 0 to 0.25%, effectively cutting its key rate for overnight lending to banks by between 0.75% and 1%. U.S. stocks leaped after the decision, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 200 points. "The Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth," the central bank pledged in its policy statement.

The move was about as aggressive as the central bank could be on monetary policy, but also signaled that it has moved on to other measures beyond setting interest rates in its fight to keep the economy rolling. The Fed's move followed some of the worst economic data in decades reported in the last few days, including monthly consumer sales numbers that fell the most since 1932.

Fed watchers described the Fed action as mostly psychological, as rates are already very low. But the Fed wanted to clearly signal that it is doing whatever it takes to short-circuit the recession which began one year ago and could easily turn into the longest post-war recession. The vote to lower the Fed funds rate was unanimous. End of Story

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Text of Fed statement

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Open Market Committee released the following statement Tuesday after its meeting.

For immediate release

The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to establish a target range for the federal funds rate of 0 to 1/4 percent.

Since the Committee's last meeting, labor market conditions have deteriorated, and the available data indicate that consumer spending, business investment, and industrial production have declined. Financial markets remain quite strained and credit conditions tight. Overall, the outlook for economic activity has weakened further.

Meanwhile, inflationary pressures have diminished appreciably. In light of the declines in the prices of energy and other commodities and the weaker prospects for economic activity, the Committee expects inflation to moderate further in coming quarters.

The Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth and to preserve price stability. In particular, the Committee anticipates that weak economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time.

The focus of the Committee's policy going forward will be to support the functioning of financial markets and stimulate the economy through open market operations and other measures that sustain the size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet at a high level. As previously announced, over the next few quarters the Federal Reserve will purchase large quantities of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities to provide support to the mortgage and housing markets, and it stands ready to expand its purchases of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities as conditions warrant. The Committee is also evaluating the potential benefits of purchasing longer-term Treasury securities. Early next year, the Federal Reserve will also implement the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility to facilitate the extension of credit to households and small businesses. The Federal Reserve will continue to consider ways of using its balance sheet to further support credit markets and economic activity.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; Christine M. Cumming; Elizabeth A. Duke; Richard W. Fisher; Donald L. Kohn; Randall S. Kroszner; Sandra Pianalto; Charles I. Plosser; Gary H. Stern; and Kevin M. Warsh.

In a related action, the Board of Governors unanimously approved a 75-basis-point decrease in the discount rate to 1/2 percent. In taking this action, the Board approved the requests submitted by the Boards of Directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. The Board also established interest rates on required and excess reserve balances of 1/4 percent.

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Op dinsdag 16 december 2008 22:28 schreef RoelerMF het volgende:
Ik ben geen hoog intelligent economisch wonder hoor, maar ik volg dit subforum nu al een tijdje op de voet. Maar wat ik mij nu toch begin af te vragen, en wat ik zo snel nergens kan terugvinden. Als de rente nu richting 0% gaat maakt het de dollar toch ongelofelijk zwak tegenover bijvoorbeeld de euro. Dat zie je de laatste twee dagen ook terug in de EUR/DOL koers die best wel een loopje heeft genomen. Maar zorgt diezelfde zwakke dollar niet voor een opleving van de grondstof markten, waaronder ook de olie. Maar de olie stijgt niet even hard mee als de EUR/DOL koers op dit moment, terwijl dat bij de daling min of meer wel het geval was.

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Ik probeer het allemaal een beetje te begrijpen, maar nu de olie blijft schommelen rond de 43 dollar, en de euro stijgt tegenover de dollar zou je mogen verwachten dat we in europa de benzineprijzen weer moeten zien gaan dalen. Toch?