The left chart shows the number of policy rate hikes or cuts by central banks since 2008. The bars above zero are the number of rate increases by the central banks in developed markets (grey) and emerging markets (purple). The bars below zero show the number of rate cuts. This shows that after central banks around the world had been aggressively cutting interest rates for the two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, they have started to raise interest rates last year in response to rising inflationary pressure. The right chart shows current key interest rate levels for selected economies, as well as the level at the start of the year and their forecast 6 months/2 quarters from now. We can see and compare which central banks are looking to tighten or loosen policy and by how much.