Local bank announces interest rate hike Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

Yesterday (November 2), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted unanimously to approve a 3/4 percentage point increase in the primary credit rate to 4 per cent, effective November 3, 2022. In response to this, local bank, CIBC FirstCaribbean notified customers that it will adjust its KYD and USD Prime Rates from 6.25 per cent to 7 per cent, effective November 4, 2022.

If other local banks follow suit, it will mean that the cost of borrowing will go up throughout Cayman and the average person in the Cayman Islands will be paying more in interest payments.

The rate increase, coupled with the already increasing consumer price index (sometimes used as a measure of inflation) in Cayman, will add pressure to the lives of already hardworking Caymanians and others who were previously struggling to make ends meet with Cayman’s high cost of living.

The rate hike may also mean that those government workers who recently received one-time honorarium payments from the government (or who expect to receive a one-time payment this quarter) could experience short-lived gains, soon to be wiped out by higher interest payments.

There are also those persons who may have been exploring new financing before the rate hike, but who may now abandon projects, hoping that rates will go down again soon.

Whatever the scenario, it appears that if the rate hike continues without intervention, some consumers may face serious challenges, including the loss of their homes or otherwise being pushed over the financial edge.

NewsAmericasNow.com