North Fulton Today

Georgia Congressional candidate Blake Harbin criticized the Federal Reserve's recent decision to raise interest rates.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors voted unanimously to raise the interest rate paid on reserve balances to 0.9%, a recent press release from the Reserve said. The increase went into effect on May 5.

The 0.5% interest rate increase is the largest one since 2000, a recent Financial Times report said. The Fed cited the war in Ukraine as one reason for needing to raise interest rates. 

“Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine has sparked large price movements and margin calls in commodities markets and highlighted a potential channel through which large financial institutions could be exposed to contagion,” Lael Brainard, Fed vice-chair, told the Financial Times.

The central bank's decision to raise interest rates is an attempt to combat inflation, which has reached its highest level in 40 years, a report from The Spokesman-Review said on Monday. The rate increase could hurt Americans looking to purchase a home, who must also contend with the steep increase in house prices over the last few years. People with outstanding balances on home equity lines of credit (HELOC) will also feel some negative impact, likely facing higher monthly payments. And Americans with outstanding credit card balances could be hit with higher payments as well.

Harbin believes that the state of the current economy is due to what he considers to be overspending by the Biden administration. 

“What does the recent interest rate hike mean?” Harbin said to North Fulton Today. “Americans will have a much harder time to buy homes and cars. The American dream just got a whole lot more expensive [...] The pain felt right now by Americans is a direct result of Biden’s failures to manage the economy. As a small business owner, I can tell you it is going to get worse. What is Biden’s strategy to fix it? Spending more of your money. Wasteful spending must be stopped.”

Blake Harbin will face a crowded field of GOP challengers in the May 24 primary election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District, including Rich McCormick, Mallory Staples and Byron Gatewood; a Ballotpedia report said. The general election will be held on Nov. 8.