Washington [US], June 29: US President Donald Trump on June 27 affirmed that he would choose a successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell if that person committed to cutting interest rates, Reuters reported.
In addition, President Trump continued to increase pressure on Mr. Powell after the Fed Chairman recently decided to keep the Fed's interest rate unchanged . Mr. Trump said he would support Mr. Powell if he wanted to resign because the current Fed Chairman did not move to cut interest rates. In a recent announcement, a White House official said that no decision has been made regarding the appointment of a successor to Fed Chairman Powell.
Also in his speech on June 27, Mr. Trump said that interest rates should be lowered by 1% from the current Fed reference rate of 4.25 - 4.5% and repeatedly criticized the Fed Chairman for not lowering interest rates since he returned to the White House in January. The Financial Times quoted the US leader as also revealing that he had instructed the administration "not to issue any debt more than 9 months old" until the new Fed Chairman takes office. However, the US Treasury Department still plans to issue long-term bonds in the next 2 weeks.
After sharply raising interest rates to combat the biggest inflation since the 1970s and 1980s, the Fed has been gradually cutting rates in the second half of 2024 but has not cut them again since Trump took office. The reason comes from Chairman Powell and Fed policymakers' concerns that Trump's tariff policies could cause inflation to flare up again. According to the plan, the Fed only expects to cut interest rates by about 0.5% in 2025.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper