US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he has a long list of people who could take over the leadership of the US Federal Reserve Board (FB). He again criticized the current chairman of the institution, Jerome Powell, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
"We have an incompetent head of the FB... we have a bad person at the FB, but he will leave in a few months and we will have someone new in his place," Trump told business leaders at a dinner in Tokyo during his week-long trip to Asia. Powell's term ends in May 2026.
President Trump added that he wanted Treasury Secretary Scott Besant to take over the central bank, but he declined: "I'm thinking about him for (chairman of the) Federal Reserve... but he doesn't want to take the job. He likes being Treasury secretary, so we're not counting him."
Yesterday, Besant told reporters that there were five finalists for the Fed chairmanship - White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Fed Branch Manager Christopher Waller, Vice Chair Michelle Bowman and BlackRock CEO (BlackRock) Rick Ridder.
Besant said he would present Trump's top candidates in December.
The Fed is expected to cut U.S. interest rates for the second time this year at its meeting tomorrow in an effort to stave off a further slowdown in the labor market.