US Senate confirms Jerome H Powell as next Federal Reserve chairman

Currently a Fed governor and former financial-firm executive, Powell is expected to mostly continue with Yellen’s policies. (Source: Reuters)

The United States Senate on Wednesday confirmed Jerome H Powell as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, a powerful post having an influence on global economy.

Powell (64) will replace Janett Yellen, whose term ends in February. He was confirmed by the US Senate by an overwhelming vote of 84-12.

Currently a Fed governor and former financial-firm executive, Powell is expected to mostly continue with Yellen’s policies.

The Wall Street Journal said Powell inherits an economy on the upswing fuelled by a booming labour market and strong global growth.

“His task will be to sustain the economy’s expansion without letting it pick up so much momentum that the Fed would be forced to cool it off with sharp rate increases, risking a downturn,” it reported.

According to The Washington Post, Powell will oversee an economy in which unemployment is at 4.1 per cent, job growth steady but unspectacular and inflation at or below the Fed’s targets.

“The economy, however, faces persistent and growing inequality, and workers have seen only limited wage gains during the long, slow recovery from the Great Recession,” it said.

Several lawmakers, however, expressed concern over Powell taking over as the next Fed chairman.

“I’m deeply concerned that as soon as Governor Powell unpacks his boxes in the Chairman’s office, he will begin weakening the new rules Congress and the Fed put in place after the 2008 financial crisis,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on the Senate Floor.

“We need someone who believes in tougher rules for banks — not weaker ones. That person is not Governor Powell,” she said.

Comments

Ukraine crisis: Exchange of hundreds of prisoners takes place

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attends a ceremony to welcome prisoners of war (POWs), released after the exchange with pro-Russian separatists, upon their arrival at an airport in Kharkiv, Ukraine December 27, 2017. (Source: Reuters) Ukraine and separatist rebels in the east of the country have exchanged hundreds of prisoners, in one of the biggest swaps since the conflict began in 2014. Around 230 people were sent to rebel-held areas in return for 74 prisoners who had been held by pro-Russia rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, BBC reported on Wednesday. It was the first swap in 15 months. The release and exchange of prisoners was one of the points in the Minsk peace agreement, signed in 2015. The deal has stalled since and analysts say the swap does not signify wider progress. Both sides continue to hold other prisoners. The number of prisoners swapped was lower than initially announced after dozens of people who were meant to be returned to rebel-held terr...

As many as 12 killed in New York’s deadliest fire in decades

More than 160 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control. (Source: Fire Department New York/Twitter) A massive fire ignited accidentally by a three-year-old boy swept through a five-story apartment building in New York, killing at least 12 people including a toddler and injuring four others in the deadliest blaze to hit the city in decades. The fire broke out around 6:50 pm (local time) yesterday on the first floor of the Prospect Avenue apartment in the Bronx borough of the city and spread quickly, officials said, adding that the cause of the blaze is under investigation. “We found that this fire started in a kitchen on the first floor,” fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said. “It started from a young boy, three and a half years old, playing with the burners on the stove. The fire got started, the mother was not aware of it – she was alerted by the young man screaming.” The boy’s mother fled with her two children, leaving the door to the apartment open – allowing t...

Over 1 lakh illegal immigrants arrested in US in 2017

On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigration enforcement and removal priorities. (Representational Image) The US authorities have arrested 143,470 illegal immigrants this year, according to a latest report. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 per cent Year-on-Year, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes. Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after January 20, which is a 42 per cent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report. US President Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20 this year. On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigrat...

I GLOBAL NEWZ

Search This Blog