The alternative that best completes the gapped excerpt below is, respectively:
US Rate Rise
The Chancellor returned from this month’s meeting of the ‘Group of Six’ with news that interest rates are
to be _____ by an average of half a percentage point in the United States. While the Chancellor has
been in Dallas, city markets have been feverish with rumours of even higher increases. The US dollar
has been _______at an all-time low for several weeks and the American trade deficit has been______
steadily. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve has gone to Tokyo to discuss the problems which have
______ from pressure in Congress to tackle the deficit. He will be in Japan until next Tuesday.
