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 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.

The Federal Reserve is paving the way for possible interest rate hikes next year, in an effort to contain stubbornly high inflation. At the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, the central bank announced plans to phase out its large-scale bond-buying program faster than initially planned. The Fed started purchasing bonds during the pandemic as a way to keep borrowing costs across the economy low and to prevent any market disruptions.