Yellen wants to serve out her term, despite Trump pressure

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen wants to serve out her term despite pressure from President-elect Donald Trump.

“I guess the way I think about it is that I was confirmed by the Senate to a four-year term. The term of the Fed chair was not meant to coincide with the president … I do intend to serve out my four-year term,” the central bank chief told reporters after the Fed hiked interest rates on Wednesday.

The incoming U.S. president slammed Yellen on the campaign trail, claiming that she kept interest rates low in order to help the Obama administration, though there is no evidence to support that assertion. Yellen has defended the objectivity of the central bank.

Trump may revisit the topic again, since the Fed just raised rates by a quarter of a point a month after he was elected — even though the increase was widely anticipated by markets months before the presidential election on Nov. 8.

Yellen took the office for a four-year term in February 2014, meaning her tenure will overlap with Trump’s for at least a year.

“I haven’t made any decision about the future. I recognize I might or might not be reappointed,” she said.

The Fed took a more aggressive view on future hikes on Wednesday. It now projects three increases in 2017 — up from the two that were expected previously — followed by two or three in 2018, and three in 2019.

Source: CNBC