USA Federal Reserve raises the key interest rate for the fourth time this year

The USA Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday, 19 December 2018 announced the fourth interest rate hike this year by 25 basis points, highlighting its plan to continue to tighten monetary policy while indicating fewer hike in 2019.

The Fed expected the US economy to slow down next year on the back of the uncertain global market. Despite the unemployment rate is at the lowest level in 49 years, the inflation in the USA has softened a little. Experts believed that the Fed might take a more subtle step in 2019 to prevent the economy from overheating.