Go to contents

Trump says he would replace Fed chief if elected

Posted May. 07, 2016 07:16,   

Updated May. 07, 2016 07:33

한국어

Donald Trump, the presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee, said Thursday that he would replace Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen if he gets elected.

“She's a very capable person,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC. “But she is not a Republican. When her time is up, I would most likely replace her because of the fact that I think it would be appropriate.” Yellen, who is in charge of the U.S. monetary policy, is a Democrat and her term as chairwoman ends in early February 2018.

Calling himself “a low interest rate person,” he mentioned side effects that could arise in the event of a rate hike. “If we raise interest rates and if the dollar starts getting too strong, we're going to have some major problems,” he said, arguing that higher interest rates could cause a problem by increasing the financing costs for U.S. national debts that amount to 19 trillion U.S. dollars.

Some observers interpret the remarks as a highly calculated pressure on the Fed chairwoman, who is considering two additional rate increases, following the first rate hike in nearly 10 years late last year.

Regional Fed chiefs drew attention by hinting at a rate increase in June. John Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said two rate increases this year are “reasonable,” while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart called for leaving open the possibility of a rate hike in June.



워싱턴=이승헌 특파원ddr@donga.com