Federal Reserve cuts interest rate for first time since 2008 financial crisis

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut down its interest rates -- for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis -- by a quarter percentage point in an attempt to ward off the possibility of an economic downturn.

The moved is aimed at sustaining the country's longest economic expansion in history amid the potential repercussions of a growth slowdown in China and Europe, as well as the effects of the ongoing trade war.

Interest rates, which affect the cost of borrowing for credit cards and mortgages, are now set to hover between 2 per cent and 2.25 per cent, reported CNN.

Shortly after the announcement, US President Donald Trump issued a sharp rebuke to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell."As usual, Powell let us down, but at least he is ending quantitative tightening, which shouldn't have started in the first place - no inflation. We are winning anyway, but I am certainly not getting much help from the Federal Reserve!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

The US President had called for more aggressive cuts in the interest rate. In a series of tweets on Monday, Trump had criticised the Federal Reserve for making "all the wrong moves", adding "a small rate cut is not enough."

Powell said pressure from Trump did not factor in the Federal Reserve's decision. "We are not going to prove we are independent with our monetary policy," he said at a press conference Wednesday.