Why are current interest rates so high globally?

Interest rates are high because money is like a toy that everyone wants to play with right now.

Imagine you have a piggy bank. When you put your allowance in it, and later you take it out, sometimes the bank gives you extra coins for keeping your money there, that’s interest. If the bank says, “We’ll give you 5 extra coins for every 100 you keep,” that means the interest rate is 5%.

Right now, many people and countries are borrowing a lot of money, like when you borrow from your friend to buy ice cream. But if too many people want to borrow at the same time, the bank might say, “We’ll charge more extra coins!”, that’s why interest rates went up.

It's also like when there’s a big party, and everyone is asking for cookies. If you’re the cookie baker, you might start charging more for each cookie because they’re so popular. That’s what’s happening with money right now, it’s in high demand, so it costs more to borrow.