The US central bank has approved another sharp rise in interest rates as it wrestles to rein in fast rising prices.
The Federal Reserve said it was raising its key interest rate by 0.75 percentage points, lifting it to its highest rate since early 2008.
The bank hopes pushing up borrowing costs will cool the economy and bring down price inflation.
The latest increase takes the bank’s benchmark lending rate to 3.75% – 4%, a range that is the highest since January 2008.
The US’s actions come as many other countries also raise rates in response to their own inflation problems, which have been fuelled by a mixture of factors, including higher energy prices as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Inflation – the rate at which prices rise – hit 8.2% in the US last month. That is down from June when it rose to 9.1%, the highest rate since 1981.
The Bank of England is expected to announce its own 0.75 percentage point hike – the biggest such move since 1989.
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