Donald Trump nominated Jerome Powell for the next head of the US central bank in November. On Tuesday, a multi-millionaire Mr Powell has been approved by US senators.
Another victory for President Trump in this year is an approving of his friend Jerome Powell as a head of the Federal Bank. Jerome Powell was backed in a 84-13 vote as chair of the FR with support from Republicans and many Democrats. Thus, the world’s most powerful economics job got Trump’s protege.
Mr Powell is a Republican who is seen to back low-interest rates. The current FR chair’s contract expires in February, Janet Yellen was appointed by President Obama in 2014 and has been the first woman to hold the position.
A Democrat Elizabeth Warren said the Federal Reserve chair needed to be someone who would stand up to Wall Street, Senator added that Jerome Powell was not that exact person.
A new Federal Reserve head, who is he?
Jerome Powell is 64 years old, he is a lawyer and multimillionaire who was seen as a safe choice who would provide continuity for existing US monetary policy and not rattle markets. Since 2012, Mr Powell has served on the Fed’s board, so his appointment as a new Fed head after Ms Yellen’s leaving on Feb 3 is pretty logical.
Jerome Powell has been supportive of gradual interest rate rises and of the consensus that the Fed should slowly decrease the asset holdings it gathered as part of its efforts to battle the financial crisis. In 2018, Trump’s target for US economic growth has been 3%, but he has also spoken of his desire to see it expand at a rate as high as 6%.
