Federal Reserve raises key interest rate 0.75% as it tries to calm inflation. The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it is raising its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, the sharpest hike since 1994, as it seeks to combat the fiercest surge in U.S. inflation in four decades.

The Fed added 0.75% to its benchmark interest rate for a second straight time. The increase of the interest rate to its highest level in four years comes as inflation continues to reach new heights.

The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by 0.75 percent for the third time in a row, bringing America's borrowing costs to the highest level since 2008. Like other central banks, the Fed hopes to tame inflation, which is hovering near 40-year highs.

Many central banks around the world are following the lead of the US Federal Reserve and raising their benchmark interest rates in order to rein in inflation. The Bank of Japan, however, is marching to the beat of its own drum. At a policy meeting this Thursday, the bank maintained its ultra-loose monetary policy in a bid to spur more internal demand. Meanwhile, the yen and many other currencies continue to fall against the dollar.

Economist Jayati Gosh believes a windfall tax is a "no-brainer". "The difficulty is how do you establish how much is windfall? It's very complicated," Ghosh tells FRANCE 24. She is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the newly appointed co-chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation.

Economist Jayati Gosh believes a windfall tax is a "no-brainer". "The difficulty is how do you establish how much is windfall? It's very complicated," Ghosh tells FRANCE 24. She is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the newly appointed co-chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he won't cause a deep recession but that "pain" is necessary to fight inflation. To curb the largest price increases in four decades, the US Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates this year.

US Consumer Price data for the month of September will be released later this Thursday, and is expected to stay high. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, are expected to have increased 6.5 percent annually last month, a rate not seen in 40 years.

With the latest increase, the Fed's target interest rate is set in a range between 4.50% and 4.75% — its highest level since late 2007. The Fed has been rapidly hiking rates since March of 2022 in a bid to snuff out persistent inflation.

The US Federal Reserve faces a tricky balancing act, as it tries to navigate high inflation and instability in the banking sector. Alexander Yokum, of CFRA Research, says the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank could affect the Fed's next interest rate decision, despite a 6 percent jump in consumer prices.

Talking Europe interviews Irene Tinagli, who chairs the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and is a prominent member of Italy's Democratic Party (PD). She calls for the completion of the EU's Banking Union to protect people's deposits, and for an EU budget that is up to the challenges the bloc faces today.

The US Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates for the tenth time in a row, bringing the key lending rate to its highest level since 2007. But the central bank has signalled it could pause further rate hikes, as inflation eases and turmoil continues to spread across the American banking sector.