Washington : U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell since returning to office, stressed the need to cut interest rates to boost the competitiveness of the U.S. economy against China and other countries.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated that the president expressed his view that maintaining current interest rates was a policy mistake that could place the United States at a disadvantage economically.
The meeting followed months of criticism from Trump regarding the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance.
Powell said that the Federal Reserve’s decisions are made independently of political considerations. He noted that he had provided the president with a detailed explanation of the monetary outlook, which is based exclusively on economic data and its projected implications.
The divergence in views between the White House and the Federal Reserve comes at a time of heightened economic competition with China. Trump maintains that reducing interest rates would help strengthen the U.S. economy’s position globally.
