In the 20 years since she set up her chain of coffee shops, the business climate has never felt as difficult as it does now, according to Helena Hudson, whose Real Eating Company has 10 outlets in market towns and cathedral cities across south-east England. Even in prosperous areas, “people are still very much watching […]
Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world The Federal Reserve is not expected to cut interest rates on Wednesday but the US central bank’s policy is already under scrutiny from President Donald Trump. Investors overwhelmingly expect the Fed to hold […]
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Bank of Japan has raised short-term interest rates to “around 0.5 per cent”, the highest level in 17 years, as the central bank said that economic activity and wage and price inflation were at […]
President Donald Trump lobbed his first volley at the Federal Reserve, saying Thursday that he will apply pressure to bring down interest rates. Speaking to an assembly of global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the new president in a wide-ranging policy speech did not mention the Fed by name but made […]
Donald Trump has threatened to double tax rates for foreign nationals and companies in the US to hit back at “discriminatory” levies on American multinationals, in a move that threatens to trigger a global confrontation over tax regimes. In a memo outlining his “America First” trade policy on Monday, the US president referred to an […]
The central bank of the People’s Republic of China is responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policies, preventing and defusing financial risks and maintaining financial stability. Peng Song | Moment | Getty Images China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged Monday, as Beijing contends with a weakening yuan while awaiting policy clues from the incoming […]
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US consumers continued to open their wallets at the start of 2025 after a $1tn spending spree during the holiday season, overcoming pressures from higher borrowing costs and years of elevated inflation. Retailers rang up […]
The Bank of Korea (BOK) in Seoul on Dec. 28, 2024. Kim Jae-Hwan | Lightrocket | Getty Images South Korea’s central bank Thursday held its benchmark policy rate at 3% in a surprise move, opting to assess changes in domestic and external economic conditions after having delivered two back-to-back cuts in its previous meetings. Economists […]
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Indonesia’s central bank has unexpectedly cut interest rates despite a weakening rupiah, citing slowing growth momentum in south-east Asia’s largest economy. Bank Indonesia on Wednesday reduced its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to […]
The European Central Bank has been too slow to cut interest rates to help the Eurozone’s stagnating economy, many of the economists polled by the Financial Times have warned. Almost half of the 72 Eurozone economists surveyed — 46 per cent — said the central bank had “fallen behind the curve” and was out of sync with […]
