President Trump accused the Federal Reserve of shirking its responsibilities if it doesn’t cut its benchmark interest rate.
The president’s attack Thursday is his latest in a series of complaints about the central bank and its chairman, Jerome Powell, as the U.S. economy faces headwinds, including a slowdown in the global economy and a trade war with China.
“The Federal Reserve is derelict in its duties if it doesn’t lower the Rate and even, ideally, stimulate,” Trump tweeted, pointing to countries like Germany, which in August sold 30-year bonds at negative interest rates.
The Fed, the president continued, “Was way too fast to raise, and way too slow to cut.”
The Federal Reserve is derelict in its duties if it doesn’t lower the Rate and even, ideally, stimulate. Take a look around the World at our competitors. Germany and others are actually GETTING PAID to borrow money. Fed was way too fast to raise, and way too slow to cut!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2019
The central bank is expected to lower interest rates for the third consecutive time next week. But Trump has pilloried the Fed for holding back economic growth by previously raising rates, even while the U.S. economy has continued to expand and unemployment reached a new 50-year low last month.
The Fed last month lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, a signal the bank is trying to maintain economic expansion amid troubles in the global economy. In addition to weakening global growth, the U.S. manufacturing activity fell to a 10-year low in September.
