The U.S. central bank showed its resolve to bring down the highest inflation rate in 40 years by raising its own benchmark lending rate by the largest amount in 22 years. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate to a range of between 0.75 and one per cent on Wednesday. That's an increase of half a percentage point from where it was before, and the biggest increase to the rate since the year 2000. Central banks slashed their lending rates in the early days of the pandemic in order to