'No guts!': Fed disappoints Trump with 25bps rate cut

Seven of ten FOMC members vote for small cut

The Federal Reserve opted for a 0.25% cut of its key interest rate last night (18 September), disappointing US President Donald Trump who said chairman Jerome Powell lacked “guts” for not implementing a deeper cut.

In the face of slowing US growth and market uncertainty, seven out of ten members of the Federal Reserve's Open Markets Committee voted to shift the target range for the rate to between 1.75% and 2%. One member voted for a shaper cut, while two voted to maintain rates where they were. UK inflation slips to 32-month low The Fed warned of "uncertainty" about US growth, which fell to 2% in the second quarter of this year, but revised upwards its prediction for growth this year to 2.2%. Pressure on the bank has also ramped up in the face of a recent spike in borrowing costs in the repu...