Frankfurt: European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi (pic) took the rare step of weighing in on the hot debate over whether President Donald Trump is undermining the independence of the Federal Reserve.
Speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington, Draghi said on Saturday he was “certainly worried about central bank independence” and especially “in the most important jurisdiction in the world.”Draghi’s intervention is notable given central bankers are usually loath to comment on politics or events in economies other than their own. He was later seen in conversation in the IMF’s headquarters with Fed chairman Jerome Powell, who Trump has frequently accused of not doing enough to stoke the US economy.How free central banks are from political meddling has been a key theme on the sidelines of the IMF talks, which took place as Trump looks to nominate two political loyalists to the Fed’s board of governors: former pizza executive Herman Cain and Stephen Moore, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
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