US Treasury Secretary Nominee Not a Fan of Auditing the Fed

As a candidate, President Trump strongly supported auditing the Federal Reserve — a move that many fear could subject the world’s most powerful central bank to political interference.

But Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary nominee, doesn’t sound like he believes auditing the Fed is necessary.

Senator Bill Nelson sent Mnuchin a written question asking the Trump nominee what he thinks about “politicizing decisions” made by the Fed and the “benefits of an independent central bank.”

Mnuchin responded cautiously, but made no mention of the dire need to audit the Fed that Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul — and Trump — have voiced.

“As you know, the Federal Reserve is organized with sufficient independence to conduct monetary policy,” Mnuchin wrote.

Trump’s Treasury pick added, “I endorse the increased transparency we have seen from the Federal Reserve Board over recent years.”

An audit would allow the General Accountability Office to review the Fed’s decisions on raising and lowering interest rates — a critical tool the Fed uses to encourage growth or keep the economy from overheating.

via CNN

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.