WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve escalated its battle against the wave of price increases battering the US economy, raising the benchmark interest rate on Wednesday even as it acknowledged the risks posed by the war in Ukraine.
At the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced a quarter-point rate hike, the first since 2018 and since it cut the rate to zero at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The central bank clearly signalled that the move, already well telegraphed by Fed officials in the weeks leading up to it, would be the first in a series.
“We’re not going to let high inflation become entrenched. The costs of…
