This 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 developed markets (grey) and emerging market (purple) central banks. The bars below zero show the number of rate cuts. This shows that in the past two years, central banks around the world have been aggressively cutting interest rates. This was partly due to the economic slowdown brought by the U.S.-China trade tension and the COVID-19 recession. Emerging market central banks have started to raise interest rates to handle domestic inflation pressure. A few developed market central banks have started to raise rates in response to price pressure.