by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

Arkansas banks have been catching their breath as interest rates have remained stable for a year. Now, they are preparing for future rate changes that might occur. In fact, the Federal Reserve hinted July 31 at a slight rate decrease.

Brad Chambless, CEO of Farmers and Merchants Bank and chairman of the Arkansas Bankers Association, said banks couldn’t respond quickly enough to the Federal Open Market Committee increasing the federal funds rate by 5.25 percentage points over 18 months.

But, the Fed’s keeping the rate steady at about 5.4% since July 27, 2023, has given banks time to adjust their assets and liabilities.

State of the State Mid-Year 2024: Banks enjoying stable interest rates, ready when changes come

by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

Editor’s note: The State of the State series provides reports twice a year on Arkansas’ key economic sectors. The series publishes stories to begin a year and stories in July/August to provide a broad mid-year update on the state’s economy. Link here for the State of the State page and previous stories.

Hyperinflation, rising interest rates, a weakened economy, supply chain issues and others plagued the construction sector in Arkansas as 2023 opened. Many of those issues started to ease as the year unfolded, according to Nabholz CEO Jake Nabholz.

Also, he told Talk Business & Politics that 2024 will be a year of growth within the construction industry. Nabholz said he hasn’t detected a definitive trend in the state in terms of what types of projects will do better in 2024. He expects that many public, industrial, retail, healthcare and others will all do well this year.

“I think we are all largely encouraged,” he said. “Construction inflation is down … it helps control project costs. It helps these projects stay more stable from a cost perspective.”

State of the State 2024: Construction sector poised for growth