President Donald Trump's wants a level playing field with the rest of the world, so his criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is justified, Vice President Mike Pence says in an interview airing Thursday.
"We certainly welcome a 25 basis points cut, but what the president has been calling for is a level playing field with our trading partners and competitors," Pence told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo. "Essentially the interest rates in Europe are zero today."
In the first two years of the Trump administration, the Fed raised interest rates 7 different times, noted Pence, and while the administration is welcoming the news of the second interest rate cut announced Thursday, Trump has been very clear on what he wants.
"Thankfully he is expressing the impatience of many Americans who want to see monetary policies in this country supporting growth," said Pence. "We understand the role of the federal reserve is to protect against inflation. The president and I think millions of Americans want to see the president and I think millions of Americans want to see the federal reserve be more bold and take more decisive steps to make sure that the American economy can continue to expand."
The Fed on Wednesday cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, lowering the federal funds rate to between 1.75% and 2%, marking the second cut this year.
Pence said the quarter-point cut, and the one before that "simply reversed" errors the Fed had made before.
Meanwhile, there are several measures the administration is considering to help the nation's spiraling deficit numbers, including a plan for a long-dated, possibly 50-year bond, said Pence.
"That's a very good way to lock in, for the longer-term, a low rate," said Pence. "I that is a sensible thing and now with this quarter-point cut, makes it a little easier to do things like that."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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