The Federal Reserve’s interest rate easing began with a half-point cut, and the UK’s financial watchdog has stepped up pressure on banks to offer more attractive interest rates on deposits. The FT’s Mehul Srivastava unravels the supply chain behind the pagers that exploded in Lebanon this week.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Federal Reserve cuts rates by half a point and signals era of easing has begun

UK regulator pushes banks to give savers better value even as rates fall

From Taipei to Budapest: the mysterious trail of exploding pagers

London and New York cocoa prices in rare divergence as shortages bite

The FT News Briefing is produced by Niamh Rowe, Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The Fed’s first rate cut in four years

FT News Briefing

The Fed’s first rate cut in four years