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165 of 224 FOMC, BoJ and RBI meetings left rates unchanged

224 central bank meetings, and 165 left rates where they were

Economy No. 21 20 September 2026 · 1 min read

In this primer, I nerded out on how the FOMC, BoJ and RBI meetings have set their countries' overnight interest rates across the last 10 years, the rates that decide what banks pay to borrow for a single night.

Every meeting of the US, Indian and Japanese central banks from October 2016 to September 2026: 223 in all, of which 165 changed nothing. The Fed moved at 31 of 81 meetings, the RBI at 21 of 61, and the Bank of Japan at just 6 of 81, having held 60 meetings in a row before March 2024.

Each country started somewhere different. Only India ended up lower.

Each line is a country's overnight interest rate. 0 is wherever it stood in October 2016. America started at 0.5%, so ending at +3.5 means it is now 4%.

How far each overnight policy rate has moved since October 2016, in percentage points from a common zero. The United States is up 3.50 points, from 0.50% to 4.00%; Japan up 1.35, from -0.10% to 1.25%; India down 1.25, from 6.50% to 5.25%, the only one of the three lower than it started.

Up and down: change in the overnight interest rate since October 2016, in percentage points. 0 is each country's own rate that month.

8 rises in 2 years, December 2016 to December 2018

All 3 are overnight rates, but each country uses a different instrument.

Fed, RBI, Bank of Japan · Oct 2016 to Oct 2026

Sources