Interest rate

Interest rates set to rise further

Rising interest rates have put loan takers, from consumers to governments, in a bind, with many having taken out loans at interbank rates in the red, as they were for eight successive years in the EU.

Successive rounds of rate increases by central banks have unavoidably affected commercial loan rates.

Traders await Fed’s Jackson Hole conference

Traders in markets are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's summer conference for signs of whether the U.S. central bank thinks inflation is under control or more interest rate hikes are needed to cool inflation.

Fed officials have used the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference in previous years to indicate changes in policy direction.

About inflation and interest rates

At the level of the global economy, focusing on the US, the dominant question is whether we are going to see lower interest rates in the current year. The answer is no, if we look at the history of the Fed. Undoubtedly, we are not on the brink of another stretch of hyperinflation like that of the painful 1965-1982 period of rising prices for goods and services in the US.

From floating to fixed rates

The banking market is witnessing a trend of conversion of mortgage loans that were contracted with a floating interest rate into a long-term fixed interest rate (mainly five years), as the persistence of inflation at high levels continues to make borrowers nervous about the evolution of interest rates after the end of the freeze that banks have implemented.

China inflation stays low as growth sputters

Chinese inflation came in flat again in May, official figures showed on June 9, as the country's economy sputters owing to softening demand and falling exports, leading to calls for a rate cut and a bigger government stimulus.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent on-year, from 0.1 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said.

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