Global central banks close ranks as Trump targets Powell... ‘Full support’ for the Fed chief

New York, Financial News – Lee Byung-chulAs the administration of Donald Trump has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve System (Fed) Chair Jerome Hayden Powell, heads of major central banks around the world have spoken out in a rare unified voice, declaring that they “stand fully behind Powell and the Fed.”
On the 13th (local time), the governors of 11 central banks, including the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of England (BoE), and the Bank of Canada, issued a joint statement saying they “stand fully behind the Federal Reserve System and Chair Jerome Hayden Powell.”
They stressed that “central bank independence is the cornerstone that underpins price, financial, and economic stability for the benefit of the citizens we serve,” voicing concern that the U.S. government’s campaign to undermine Powell could damage the Fed’s monetary policy independence.
The joint statement was also signed by the governors of the central banks of Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Korea, Australia, and Brazil. François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of Banque de France, signed in his capacity as chair of the board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Notably, Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB, signed not only on behalf of the ECB but also representing the 21 Eurozone national central banks, effectively bringing the entire Eurozone monetary authority into the message defending the Fed’s independence.
John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) and a key figure within the Fed, also publicly defended Powell. Williams emphasized his confidence by saying, “Powell is a person of impeccable integrity.” He warned that “historically, when attempts to undermine central bank independence have succeeded, the outcome has often been very unfortunate economic results.”
Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Jerome Hayden Powell over the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Observers say that the Trump administration’s pressure on the Fed has escalated beyond the level of political attacks into the use of judicial means.
Powell has previously played down his clashes with President Donald Trump, but he dismissed the latest investigation as “a pretext to strip the Fed of its monetary policy independence.”


pride@fnnews.com Lee Byung-chul Reporter