Fed to raise interest rates in 2022

Federal Reserve officials announced this week they may make as many as three interest rate hikes beginning in the spring of 2022, according to multiple reports. The effort to slow persistently high inflation will bump up the benchmark rate which affects borrowing, lending, and economic growth. The rate has been near zero since COVID-19 took hold, an effort to boost the recovery from the economic effects of the pandemic. It is projected that the benchmark interest rate could rise to 0.9% in 2022.