Trump Ramps up Pressure on Fed with Dig at Draghi
Published Jun 18, 2019 07:31AM ET
Investing.com - U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, slamming European Central Bank President Mario Draghi for comments that opened the door to more monetary stimulus in the euro zone and sent the single currency sharply lower.
Trump said in a tweet that the resulting drop in the euro relative to the U.S. dollar would make it easier for the bloc to compete against the United States.
Trump’s tweet added to pressure on the Fed to ease monetary policy, having raised interest rates from near zero to around 2.5% in the last three years. An interest rate cut would be the first from the Fed in a decade.
The Fed, which has faced repeated demands by Trump to cut interest rates, is expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged at its policy meeting on Wednesday, but possibly lay the groundwork for a rate cut later this year.
Expectations for multiple rate cuts later this year have risen during the past several weeks amid fears over the economic impact of the long running U.S.-China trade war, which have been underlined by recent weakness in economic data.
Earlier in the day, Draghi said the ECB will ease policy again if inflation fails to accelerate, signaling one of the biggest policy reversals of his eight-year tenure.
"In the absence of improvement, such that the sustained return of inflation to our aim is threatened, additional stimulus will be required," Draghi told the ECB's annual conference in Sintra, Portugal.
Get The News You Want
Draghi had said at his regular press conference earlier this month that all of the ECB's toolkit could be deployed if needed, whether that means cutting interest rates further below zero, or restarting quantitative easing.
--Reuters contributed to this report
Written By: Investing.com
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.