Fed Chair Powell Asked Point Blank If He Has Concerns About 'Cost To Government' Of Holding Rates Steady

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was asked about the impact of holding interest rates steady.

Transcript

00:00To follow up, what do you, well, I don't want to put this in terms of you and the President,

00:05so let me ask it this way. Do you have concerns about the cost to the government of keeping rates

00:13elevated for longer in terms of interest rate charges?

00:18No, that's, you know, we have a mandate, and that's maximum employment and price stability.

00:22And it is, it's not something we do to consider the cost to the government of our rate changes.

00:32We have to be able to look at the goal variables Congress has given us,

00:36use the tools they've given us to achieve those goals, and that's what we do.

00:41It's, we don't consider the fiscal needs of the federal government.

00:44No advanced economy, Central Bank, does that, and it wouldn't be good for, if we did do that,

00:50it would be good neither for our credibility nor for the credibility of U.S. fiscal policy.

00:54So it's just not something we take into consideration.

00:59Victoria.