© Bloomberg. The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building stands past passing vehicles in this photograph taken with a tilt-shift lens in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said the Federal Reserve is moving too fast with interest rate increases, intended to keep the U.S. economy from overheating, and dismissed concerns about inflation.
“I don’t like it,” Trump said Tuesday at the White House, referring to the Fed’s rate increases. “I think we don’t have to go as fast.”
“I like low interest rates,” Trump said.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is aiming to extend the second-longest U.S. economic expansion on record by moving interest rates up just quickly enough to prevent overheating, but not so rapidly that the central bank chokes off growth. Powell said last week he expects to stick with the current path of gradual interest-rate hikes while monitoring risks in the economy.
Trump’s comments echo previous criticisms of the Fed. After the central bank announced its third increase of the year in September — a quarter-point boost that raised the benchmark federal funds rate to a target range of 2 percent to 2.25 percent — Trump said he was “not happy” about it.
Trump publicly criticized Fed interest-rate increases earlier this year, breaking with more than two decades of White House tradition of avoiding comments on monetary policy out of respect for the independence of the U.S. central bank.
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Source: Investing.com
