U.S. President Joe Biden has said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is the right person to lead the central bank as the U.S. economy continues to recover from the pandemic and the government moves to combat rising inflation.
"It’s the Fed’s job to balance two key goals. The first is to achieve maximum employment to get as many Americans working as possible. The second is to keep inflation low and stable,” Biden said. "To meet these goals is going to require patience, skill and independence.”
The president said he’d chosen not to replace Powell, appointed by his Republican predecessor, with a more liberal nominee because "we need stability and independence at the Federal Reserve.” He said he also sought to avoid politicizing the nomination.