Fed chief challenges Trump on US economy

Global Business

Federal Reserve Board Chair, Janet Yellen gave her first congressional testimony since Donald Trump became president, giving a different picture of the economy then the president, whose been a vocal critic.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

President Trump claimed that banking regulations supported by Yellen and designed to prevent another global crisis have been harmful.

“I have so many people, friends of mine that have nice businesses, they can’t borrow money. They just can’t get any money because the banks just won’t let them borrow — because of the rules and regulations,” said Trump.

But Yellen showed up for this twice yearly grilling from lawmakers armed with figures to paint a different picture.

“A recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, which is smaller businesses, indicated that only 4 percent of respondents were unable to get hold of the loans that they needed and the fraction of businesses ranking inadequate access to credit as their main problem stood at 2 percent, which is an extremely low number,” said Yellen.

Another point of contention has been Trump’s travel bans and plans to build a wall on the Mexican border. Yellen sees problems with restricting immigration.

On the broader economy, the Fed chief thinks conditions continue to favor raising interest rates, reversing years of ultra-low rates aimed at sustaining a fragile recovery.

But she also hinted that Trump’s plans to stimulate the economy quickly with huge infrastructure spending and tax cuts may be risky.


Christopher Versace discusses US economy

For more on the state of the U.S. economy and its outlook, CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke with Christopher Versace, a portfolio manager for The Street’s Trifecta Stocks.