President Donald Trump has stated that it would be a mistake for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as his nominee, Kevin Warsh, prepares to chair his first monetary policy meeting.
Strong U.S. employment data for May has fueled market bets that the central bank's next move will be a rate increase to combat inflation. In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump sought to counter this market sentiment.
Trump argued that positive economic news is now causing stock market declines because investors anticipate rate hikes, which he believes are unjustified.
Warsh is set to preside over his inaugural Federal Open Market Committee meeting on June 16-17. The president's comments, recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday, are likely to amplify the economic and political pressures surrounding the event. Trump stated that raising the benchmark interest rate "is a mistake" and that "we should actually be lowering rates."
The U.S. jobs report released on Friday showed May non-farm payrolls growth exceeded all expectations, triggering a sell-off in U.S. Treasury bonds. This prompted traders to fully price in expectations for a 25-basis-point rate hike by the Fed before the end of the year.
Trump has a history of publicly pressuring the Fed to cut rates. After nominating Warsh as Fed Chair, he later expressed a desire for Warsh to act "in his own way."
During the NBC interview, Trump hinted at a degree of frustration with the situation.
"I have a lot of respect for Warsh, but my feeling is that when a nation's economy is doing well, you shouldn't punish it by immediately raising interest rates," Trump said.
"You know, we have debt, and we have other things to take care of," he added. "We have a lot of things to work out. I want to put more into the military."
Comments