Monetary policy

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation reading fell in March, but the positive reading came before new trade policies hit the economy.

The president said he had "no intention" of firing the Federal Reserve chair and promised that tariffs against Chinese imports would be lowered "substantially."

Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler said tighter monetary policy has proved to be less impactful on nonbank lenders during the post-pandemic era.

In a post on his social media platform Thursday morning, the president criticized the Federal Reserve's reluctance to lower rates and said the chair's departure "could not come soon enough."

Federal Reserve Board member Christopher Waller said he would not be deterred from classifying inflation as "transitory" despite the board's recent experience underestimating inflationary pressures.

Inflation cooled faster than expected last month, giving the Federal Reserve room to ease monetary policy if the economy weakens suddenly. But tariffs and other policy changes still cloud the outlook for monetary policy.

President Trump placed a 90-day pause on most of his sweeping tariff package, but for banks and other financial market participants, the threat of volatility remains.

Federal Reserve officials want to see how exactly new trade policies impact the U.S. economy before adjusting interest rates. Markets and monetarists have different ideas about what that might look like.

The central bank wants to let Trump's policies play out across the economy before deciding which way to move interest rates, and it's too soon to know what the impacts will be, the Federal Reserve chair said.

The Federal Reserve governor said it is healthy to examine the regulatory architecture, but stressed the importance of the central bank having insight into the banking system.