US President Donald Trump on Sunday criticised any move by the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates, but said he wants new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to make his own decisions.
"Kevin is fantastic, and I want him to do whatever he wants,” Trump said in an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press.
Warsh was sworn in last month.
“I don’t want to have a big influence on him. But we had a great (jobs) report. We’re doing great, and it’s unfair that whenever you do great, they want to raise interest rates," he said.
The May US jobs report showed the labour market remained strong, with the economy adding 172,000 jobs and the unemployment rate holding steady. Under standard economic theory, if there is a danger of the economy overheating, and so threatening higher inflation, increasing interest rates is one way to prevent that.
The May report was released as concerns intensified over oil and gas prices, which have climbed since the Iran war began.
“Nowadays when you have good reports, the market goes down because they think they’re going to raise interest rates,” Trump said during the interview.
“There’s no reason to raise interest rates.”
Trump criticised the idea of another Fed rate increase, saying higher borrowing costs would amount to penalising the country’s progress.
“We built the country by doing great and having rates low. What they do is when they raise interest rates, they try and kill success. I don’t want to kill success. We should actually lower interest rates,” he said.
Trump had repeatedly urged former Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, mocking him as “too late” and “a major loser.”
Earlier this year, Trump told NBC News that Warsh, his choice to next lead the Fed, would not have been picked if he had told Trump he intended to raise interest rates.
Trump described the Fed “in theory” as an “independent body,” while stressing his own economic judgment and saying he knew “the economy better than almost everybody.”
