Gulf central banks keep interest rates unchanged

Gulf central banks kept interest rates unchanged, following the US Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged.

The Qatar Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged at 5.75% for deposits and 6.25% for lending.

The bank stated on the

He added, “The bank will review its monetary policy when necessary to address any changes in economic requirements.”

For its part, the UAE Central Bank stated in a statement this evening, Wednesday, that it kept the base rate on overnight deposit facilities unchanged at 5.40%.

It is noteworthy that the Federal Reserve Bank (the US central bank) kept interest rates unchanged at the range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent, in line with expectations, for the fourth time in a row, during its meeting today, its first meeting for the year 2024.

The Fed said in the minutes of its two-day meeting that it had finished the monetary policy tightening cycle, but was not now ready to cut interest rates.

The US Treasury said it plans to continue gradually increasing bond auction sizes through April, but after that it does not expect further increases for at least the next few quarters.

The US Department of Labor said that US labor costs rose less than expected in the fourth quarter, leading to the smallest annual increase in two years. At the same time, jobs in the private sector rose by 107,000 jobs last December, the national employment report showed on Wednesday.