WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to discuss economic developments including for growth, employment, and inflation, Powell’s office said in a statement.
The meeting was held at the president’s invitation, the statement said.
“Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,” the statement said.
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Powell, whom he nominated to the post during his first term and who was renominated to a second term by Democratic President Joe Biden, and said he wants to see him gone from the central bank.
“Chair Powell said that he and his colleagues on the FOMC will set monetary policy, as required by law, to support maximum employment and stable prices and will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis,” the statement said.
Trump, who has attacked Powell over the Fed’s decision to not lower interest rates, recently said he has no intention of trying to fire Powell. But the possibility of a firing has unsettled financial markets that bank on an independent Fed’s ability to do its job without political interference.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Rami Ayyub)
