Compare the Fed target-range midpoint and ECB deposit-facility interest rate, including historical policy settings and effective dates.
THE COMPARISON
United States and Europe
Each value carries its own observation date. Europe means the euro area unless stated otherwise. All charts share the same five-year window; shorter source histories are marked. Click a chart to inspect dated values.
01
Central Bank Policy Rates
Policy settings influence financing conditions with uncertain lags.
This dashboard defines the US policy rate as the midpoint of the Federal Open Market Committee’s target range for the federal funds rate. The lower and upper bounds are displayed alongside it. The midpoint is calculated here from the target-range fields in the New York Fed’s reference-rate API; it is not the effective federal funds rate actually traded in the market.
For the euro area, the displayed setting is the ECB deposit facility rate. Its observation date is the effective date of a policy change, so an older date can still describe the current setting. Rate changes occur at policy decisions, not automatically every week.
Higher policy rates tend to restrain borrowing and spending and increase the discount rate applied to future cash flows. Lower rates can support financing and demand. The impact varies with inflation expectations, debt structures and credit conditions, and arrives with uncertain lags. A rate cut may signal easing financial conditions or a response to serious economic weakness; it is not unambiguously bullish.
Which central bank interest rates are shown?
The US series is the midpoint of the Federal Reserve target range, calculated from the New York Fed data. The euro-area series is the ECB deposit-facility rate. Neither is a retail borrowing rate; policy effects unfold with uncertain lags.