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IPFS News Link • Trump Administration

Mnuchin Backs Fed Independence and Signals Reform Isn't Priority

• https://www.bloomberg.com

U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin isn't jumping on the Republican bandwagon to audit the Fed.

In written questions by senators following his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Mnuchin was asked about his thoughts on "politicizing decisions made by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the benefits of an independent central bank."

Mnuchin's answer was crafted carefully.

"The Federal Reserve is organized with sufficient independence to conduct monetary policy and open market operations," Mnuchin responded to Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat. "I endorse the increased transparency we have seen from the Federal Reserve Board over recent years."

The response appears to lean against legislation such as the Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Act of 2015, or FORM Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives but never became law, that would have subjected the central bank's monetary policy decisions to greater congressional scrutiny.

As a candidate, President Donald Trump took aim at the Federal Reserve for playing politics, challenging its legitimacy as an independent institution. He accused the central bank of keeping interest rates low to benefit Barack Obama's administration.

Mnuchin's comments are "certainly endorsing the principle, if not every current detail of the practice of Fed independence," said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. "He does not want to make waves at this stage."The seven-seat Fed Board in Washington currently has two vacancies, while Janet Yellen's term as chair ends in February 2018 and Stanley Fischer's term as vice chairman ends in June 2018. Trump can nominate his own choices for those positions, giving him significant scope to shape the Fed's leadership and raising questions about the central bank's future relationship with the Treasury and White House.

"People are asking questions and are curious if the Trump appointments could affect the conduct of policy," said Paul Mortimer-Lee, chief economist for North America at BNP Paribas in New York. "I think it will be very tough to change very much" with the Fed's mandate for stable prices and full employment so well established.


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