MNI TRANSCRIPT: Powell on Political Pressure, Balance Sheet

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following is the portion of a transcript from

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference after the FOMC meeting

Wednesday:

     Q: The President has repeatedly called for this rate like and for the Fed

to end the runoff of the balance sheet. What do you say to those that say that

the Fed gave into what the President wanted today and could you also elaborate

on why the Fed decided to speed up its runoff two months earlier today. 

     A: I gave my reasons -- our reasons, really -- for doing this. And, you

know, just to touch on that again, this action is designed to ensure against

downside risks due to weak global growth, outset the effect and promote return

to 2% inflation rate. That's what we've been talking about all year long. We've

gradually moved our policy in the direction of more accommodation. You see an

economy that has reacted well to that. So that's what we're doing and that's why

we're doing it. We never take into account political considerations. There's no

place in our discussions for that. We don't conduct monetary policy in order to

prove our independence. We conduct it in order to move as close as possible to

our statutory goals. That's what we're always going to do. We're always going to

use our tools that way. And at the end we'll live with the results. In terms of

the balance sheet, that was really just a matter of simplicity and consistency,

really nothing more to it than that. 

--MNI Washington Bureau; tel: +1 202-371-2121; email: kevin.kastner@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MMUFE$,M$U$$$]