Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he wouldn't resignif President Donald Trump asked him to do so, addressing months ofcriticism from the White House about the central bank's decisionsto raise interest rates.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the Federal Reserve interestrate increases under Powell and last month privately discussedfiring Powell following the central bank's most recent rate hike.Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, later said that thepresident knows “now” that he cannot fire the Fed chair unless it'sfor cause.

Powell, speaking Friday at an American Economic Associationmeeting in Atlanta, deflected a question about whether he wouldmeet with Trump, something the White House said both Powell andTrump want to do. “Meetings between presidents and Fed chairs dohappen,” Powell said. “Nothing has been scheduled, and I don'treally have anything to report on that.”

Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said earlier Fridaythat “both sides” want the president and Powell to meet over theirdifferences on the central bank's rate increases.

“The details have not been worked through yet,” Kudlow toldBloomberg TV on Friday. “I can't really predict a meeting althoughI think one will happen.

“It would be nice to have a frank and a candid exchange up closeand personal,” Kudlow added. “President Trump would benefit. Ithink Jay Powell would benefit.”

Powell, however, signaled a meeting would be unlikely to changeanything at the Fed. “I would want the public to be assured that wehave a strong culture,” Powell said Friday. “It's not a fragileone. It's not subject to disruption.”

Still, Janet Yellen, Powell's predecessor, warned Trump'srepeated attacks on Powell and the Fed could undermine confidencein the central bank.

“Obviously the president has a right to comment on the Fed, butI would worry that if it continues, or intensifies, that it couldundermine confidence in the Fed,” said Yellen, who appeared on apanel with Powell at the Atlanta meeting.

Kudlow argued the Fed is overly concerned about inflation at therisk of stunting economic growth. He said a “supply-siderevolution” is allowing the U.S. economy to grow without raisingthe threat of inflation.

“There is no inflation. More growth, more people working doesnot cause inflation,” Kudlow said. “These old Federal Reservemodels are outdated and have proven to be incorrect. ”

While Trump has broken with a long-held tradition of a sittingpresident refraining from publicly commenting on monetary policy,he is not the only one to criticize Powell. Investors arefrustrated with the Fed chair's choice not to be more transparentabout what kind of data the central bank is dependent on to makerate decisions. Investors are increasinglysaying that the Fed could use speeches and press conferences to doa better job of explaining their decisions.

From: Bloomberg

Copyright 2019 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.