Fed Set To Cut Interest Rates To 1 Pct
The Fed is expected to cut US interest rates by a half percent to just 1 percent Wednesday, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has another stab at kick-starting the financial markets.
The global outlook has worsened since the Fed last acted on Oct. 8, and analysts now say that the US economy may shrink more than 2 percent in the final quarter of 2008, its steepest decline in at least 18 years.
Bernanke and his colleagues may eventually have to drive the benchmark overnight rate close to zero to resuscitate the economy, some analysts are saying.
The global outlook has worsened since the Fed last acted on Oct. 8, and analysts now say that the US economy may shrink more than 2 percent in the final quarter of 2008, its steepest decline in at least 18 years.
Bernanke and his colleagues may eventually have to drive the benchmark overnight rate close to zero to resuscitate the economy, some analysts are saying.
