● The Fed voted unanimously on March 20 to keep US rates in the range of 5.25% to 5.5%.

Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed was maintaining its outlook for three cuts this year. Across the Pacific, the Bank of Japan scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate on March 18. Ending the most aggressive monetary stimulus program in modern history, the bank’s board voted 7-2 to set a policy rate range of 0% to 0.1%, shifting from a -0.1% short-term interest rate.