federal funds rate - Providence Business News

The Fed can do very little about high mortgage rates

Commentary 06/19/2026

The 30-year mortgage rate has been stuck at recent highs well above 6%, and pricey mortgages have been weighing on the housing market more...

BALANCED APPROACH: Jillian J. DeShiro, executive vice president and chief financial and operating officer at Centreville Bank, says banks need to be able to operate in a high-rate environment and a low-rate environment “because you don’t get to choose which one you’re in.”  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Will interest rates drop as anticipated in 2026?

Economic Activity 01/16/2026

For Rhode Island’s business owners, homeowners and lenders, 2026 is shaping up to be a year defined in part by two questions: When will...

MORE AFFORDABILITY: Rhode Island Association of Realtors President Shannon Buss, bracketed by books that have been key to her real estate career, says three consecutive interest-rate cuts by the Fed haven’t led to new homebuyers entering the market, but they have helped buyers who are already looking to afford more in a house. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Three Fed rate cuts in 2019 spur more home-loan activity

Financial Services 12/06/2019

Three interest-rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve have encouraged homeowners to seek out refinancing of existing mortgages and created a robust market...

THE FEDERAL RESERVE, led by Chairman Jerome Powell, raised the federal funds rate target to a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent, the central bank's fourth hike this year. But Powell and company signaled that they expect two rate hikes in 2019, as opposed to the three that were forecast previously. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER

Fed raises rates, trims forecast for hikes in 2019 to two

Economy 12/19/2018

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs for the fourth time this year, ignoring a stock-market selloff and defying pressure from President Donald...