Central banks diverged in monetary policies

Last week, the central banks' interest rate decisions left their mark on the week.

In line with the increasing inflationary pressures and the concerns about the Omicron variant, a negative course prevailed in the markets on the last trading day of the week, following the divergence of the central banks in their monetary policies.

FED LEFT INTEREST FIXED

The US Federal Reserve (Fed), after its meeting on Wednesday, pointed to an acceleration in asset purchases and at least 3 interest rate hikes for next year.

ENGLAND INCREASED INTEREST

The Bank of England (BoE) hiked interest rates.

ECB LEFT INTEREST FIXED

The European Central Bank (ECB), on the other hand, did not change interest rates at its meeting on Thursday, and confirmed that the Pandemic Emergency Asset Purchase Program (PEPP) will end in March 2022.

RUSSIA INCREASED INTEREST

The Central Bank of Russia announced that after its meeting, it increased the policy rate by 100 basis points to 8.5 percent.