Central banking
Bank of Japan holds rates steady for second straight meeting as Trump tariffs threaten exports
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Getty Images Japan’s central bank held its policy rate at 0.5% Thursday, for a second straight meeting, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs weighed on the country’s economic outlook. The move […]
Read More
German fiscal boost won’t outweigh tariff drag for euro zone, IMF’s Europe head says
Higher German infrastructure spending will boost Europe’s economic growth in the coming years — but not enough to outweigh the expected drag from U.S. tariffs, according to Alfred Kammer, director of the European department at the International Monetary Fund. The IMF last week cut its growth outlook for the euro area, also making downgrades for […]
Read More
Inflation job nearly done but tariff risks loom — What European Central Bank members said this week
Guests and attendeess mingle and walk through the atrium during the IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meetings at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2025. Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images After years dominated by the pandemic, supply chains, energy and inflation, there was a new topic topping the agenda at the […]
Read More
Bank of England chief focused on tariff ‘growth shock’ but downplays UK recession risk
The Bank of England is focused on the potential U.K. growth shock from U.S. tariffs if there is a slowdown in global trade, the central bank’s governor Andrew Bailey said Thursday. “We’re certainly quite focused on the growth shock,” Bailey told CNBC’s Sara Eisen in an interview at the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings. Going into […]
Read More
Fed’s Hammack calls for patience in assessing what impacts tariffs will have on the economy
Key Points In her first broadcast interview since taking the reins at the Cleveland Fed, Hammack noted the high level of uncertainty now and did not commit to a specific course of action regarding interest rates. A former Goldman Sachs executive, Hammack said she is sensitive to market movements but only in how they affect […]
Read More
Indonesia plans to import more from the U.S. to ‘narrow’ trade surplus, finance minister says
The Semanggi overpass in Jakarta, Indonesia. Fadil Aziz | The Image Bank | Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have pushed countries to look for ways to improve their trade balance with the U.S. and negotiate the extent of duties levied on their imports. Indonesia’s plan now is to “narrow,” or even eliminate its […]
Read More
European Central Bank should only cut interest rates once more this year, IMF Europe head says
This photo taken on Jan. 30, 2025 shows the European Central Bank ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. Zhang Fan/Xinhua via Getty Images The European Central Bank should only enact one more quarter percentage point interest rate cut this year despite wider risks to economic growth, the International Monetary Fund’s Europe chief said Wednesday. “We have […]
Read More
European Central Bank’s Lagarde says she hopes Trump doesn’t fire Fed’s Powell
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Tuesday said she hoped that U.S. President Donald Trump would not fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Asked by CNBC’s Sara Eisen if that scenario was a current material risk to markets, Lagarde said: “I certainly hope not … I hope that it is not a risk.” Speaking […]
Read More
CNBC Daily Open: Investors grow wary of U.S. assets as Trump intensifies attacks on Powell
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 17, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters Yesterday’s edition of this newsletter cautioned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to intervene in the Federal Reserve, as he […]
Read More
CNBC Daily Open: Trump’s threat to intervene in Fed could cause upheaval
The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S., on Feb. 27, 2024. Morah Ratner | Bloomberg | Getty Images An independent central bank is seen by most (including this newsletter) as the bedrock of a functional economy. Officials steer the economy by calibrating the benchmark interest rate on which bank loans and […]
Read More