The Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it is raising interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, the ninth rate hike since March 2022. This decision is part of its ongoing efforts to slow the economy and battle stubbornly high inflation, but it runs contrary to the government's recent efforts to stabilize banks. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said that the Fed’s decision is “incongruous with efforts to re-establish the stability of the financial system.” It is unclear how the recent bank failures will affect the Fed’s decision-making going forward.
