Lower interest rates make it easier for businesses and people to borrow money for purchases and other activities that help the economy.
2011年8月22日星期一
The Federal Reserve Cuts Rates to Calm Financial Market
By Brianna Blake
2008-1-25
News of the American central bank's interest rate cut this week was the top story in financial markets around the world. In a surprise announcement Tuesday, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate to three and one-half percent. This is the rate that banks charge each other to borrow money overnight.
Several foreign markets regained some of their losses in the days following the American interest rate cut. Stock prices rose almost eleven percent in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The main index in Mumbai, India increased more than seven percent. European and Asian markets also closed higher on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei Index gained more than four percent. Share prices were also higher in Shanghai, Manila, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
But others are not so sure. Joseph Stiglitz is an economics professor at Columbia University in New York City and a winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. He said the current market trouble is far from over.
As concerns of a possible recession in the United States grow, the Bush administration and congressional leaders agreed on an economic growth plan.
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.
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