Trump: Federal Reserve is ‘biggest risk’ to US economy
US President Donald Trump has once again criticized the Federal Reserve, calling the nation’s central bank the “biggest risk” to the US economy for its policy of raising interest rates.
In a White House interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Trump suggested that he regretted nominating Fed chairman Jerome Powell for the four-year term he started in February.
"Every time we do something great, he raises the interest rates," Trump told the Journal.
The US president said higher interest rates would slow economic growth and add to the national debt.
"To me the Fed is the biggest risk, because I think interest rates are being raised too quickly," Trump said.
The criticism comes after Trump last week called the Federal Reserve "my biggest threat" and said Powell was moving "too fast" in hiking rates.
Earlier in October, Trump said the US central bank has gone “crazy.”
The Fed has raised interest rates three times this year as it seeks to control inflation in a strong economy, and it is widely expected to raise rates again by 0.25 percent in December.
The Federal Reserve is mandated by Congress to aim for low inflation and low unemployment.
Currently American consumer price inflation is above 2 percent annually and the unemployment rate is the lowest in about 40 years. US economic growth reached 4.2 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, its strongest pace in four years.
US presidents usually remain silent on such issues in respect toward the Fed's independence.
However, it is not easy for the president to remove the Fed chair. The Federal Reserve Act says the president can remove Fed governors "for cause," but that provision does not apply to the chairman.
The US Federal Reserve is considered independent because its monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the president or anyone else in the executive or legislative branches of government and it does not receive funding appropriated by the Congress.
Powell has maintained that the central bank needs to remain independent from political pressure in order to see its dual mandate through.
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