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BCN-03
US-ECONOMY-FED-TRUMP
US Fed chairman’s job ‘100 pct’ safe: Trump advisor
WASHINGTON, Dec 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump has no
intention of firing the chairman of the Federal Reserve, despite his barrages
of criticism against the central bank, White House economic advisor Kevin
Hassett said Wednesday.
“Yes, of course, 100 percent,” Hassett said when asked on ABC television
whether Fed boss Jerome Powell would keep his job.
Hassett also downplayed jitters over the economic outlook, following
plummeting stock market prices.
“All the anecdotal information we’re getting is that the fundamentals
remain extremely sound,” Hassett said, as Wall Street bounced back from its
most recent losses.
Hassett said that Christmas-period shopping had been “through the roof”
and that the economy was still expanding at a good pace, with “the momentum
that we saw this year… carrying over to next year.”
The Trump advisor likewise sought to calm nerves triggered by revelations
that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin phoned the CEOs of America’s biggest
banks last weekend to check that they have healthy liquidity levels.
The calls — apparently meant to demonstrate the White House’s grip on the
volatile situation — backfired by sparking concerns that the government
might be worried about a run on the banks.
“Secretary Mnuchin talks to bankers all the time, practically every day
and you know, the markets clearly are focused on downside risk for next year
and it’s important to gather information from the normal sources and from
informal sources and you know,” Hassett said.
“We’ve all been doing that really quite a bit over the few weeks.”
Hassett said that the ongoing budget impasse in which swaths of the
federal government are going without funding, due to Congress’ refusal to
authorize Trump’s demand for more money on a US-Mexico border barrier, would
not harm the economy.
“A few weeks shutdown is not going to be something that has any kind of
significant effect on the outlook,” he said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on reports that
Trump is planning to meet with the Fed’s Powell in the near future. Trump has
repeatedly and publicly lambasted Powell over the central bank’s raising of
interest rates.
BSS/AFP/HR/0915