The Federal Reserve is responsible for controlling rates to help maintain a low inflation rate. Raising interest rates means that it’ll generally cost more to borrow money. For instance, the APR on your credit, or variable rate mortgage will go up. If you want to purchase a new car, you could also see higher rates on auto loans.The idea is that, by increasing the costs to borrow money, The Federal Reserve can encourage consumers tospend less and lower demand, leading to prices remaining constant or even going down.