Tag: Federal reserve

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News: Steady as She Goes — BoC and US Fed rates unchanged

RobHLeave a comment

To the surprise of no one, both the Bank of Canada and the US Federal reserve announced no changes to their benchmark rates today.

As reflected in HISA and short-term bond table (Canada & US), the Bank of Canada rate held steady at 2.25% and the US Federal Reserve held their rates steady in a range of 3.50-3.75%.

The posted rates matter because they drive numbers like how much money you can expect to earn from a high interest savings account.

Bank of Canada next announces on June 10. US Fed next announces on June 17.

News: Canada and US both lower prime rate

RobH2 Comments

To the surprise of no one, both the Bank of Canada and the US Federal Reserve lowered their headline interest rate by 1/4 of a % (that’s 25 basis points if you want to be fancy about it).

Official statement from BoC sets the policy rate at 2.5%, down from 2.75%.

Official statement from the US Fed lowers the “target range for the federal funds rate by 1/4 of point”, which puts the range between 4.0% and 4.25%1

Anyway, to the DIY investor, this will no doubt lower the rates available by the HISA providers, last captured here. A quick spot check shows no change yet2, but that won’t last, I predict. The rates have now been lowered and I’ve updated the September table accordingly. The next meetings for these orgs happens at the end of October, so this means stability for the next 6 weeks on the interest rate front.

  1. why is it range? I have no idea. ↩︎
  2. insert joke about “banker’s hours” here ↩︎

News: No change to either Canadian or US interest rates

RobH1 Comment

As was widely expected, there was no change in interest rates on either side of the border. The Bank of Canada stood pat for a third month with a policy rate of 2.75% and the Federal Reserve bank stayed the course for the fifth straight month at a rate between 4.25% and 4.5%.

These rates underpin things like the HISA table I update monthly; as a result, I wouldn’t expect much in the way of change for my upcoming August update.

The next announcements from the two are scheduled for September 17.