Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank’s rate decision was not a result of political pressure.
“We never take into account political considerations. There’s no place in our discussions for that. We also don’t conduct monetary policy in order to prove our independence,” Powell said at a news conference Wednesday.
The Fed dropped the target range for its overnight lending rate to 2% to 2.25%, or 25 basis points from the previous level, marking the first rate cut since December 2008.
