The world this week--BusinessThe Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by another three-quarters of a percentage point, to a range of between 3% and 3.25%.It was the third consecutive such increase and came after figures showed that inflationary pressures are moving extensively beyond food, energy and goods to services prices, such as rent.The Fed now projects the rate to rise to at least 4.25% by the end of the year.Jerome Powell, the central bank’s chairman, said “We have to get inflation behind us”, and that there was no painless way to do so.Other central banks also tightened monetary policy at an aggressive pace to battle inflation.Swiss National Bank raised its key rate to 0.5% from -0.25%, ending seven years of negative rates.Sweden’s Riksbank, a laggard compared with most of its contemporaries, lifted its main policy rate by one percentage point, to 1.75%, the biggest increase in three decades.Bucking the trend the Bank of Japan maintained its ultralow rate.That caused the yen to slide further against the dollar, prompting Japan to intervene in foreign-exchange markets to shore up the currency for the first time since 1998.
