RateAPY

Bank Interest Rates May Change After Bernanke Speaks

Posted by: RateAPY Bank Rates News
February 8th, 2010

Bank interest rates on everything from your certificates of deposit, savings accounts, money market accounts, and mortgages could be affected by what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has to say to Congress on February 10.

Congress has long been pressuring Bernanke to disclose a plan to unwind the extraordinary measures used to save the economy from collapse. Among the extraordinary stimulus programs have been:

• Bank are able to offer low mortgage rates because the Feds are purchasing mortgage-backed securities
• Interest rates on certificates of deposit, savings accounts, and money market accounts are low because the Feds are keeping the Fed Funds Rate between 0.000% and 0.250%
• Stimulus is going out to the housing market in the form of tax credits of up to $8,000 per qualified buyer

How the Fed plans to get the economy back on its own two feet while removing stimulus programs is among the top questions Congress will be asking this week.