WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Christopher Waller was sworn in Friday to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, whose members – along with the leaders of the 12 regional Fed banks – set U.S. interest rate policy for the world’s biggest economy.
Waller was most recently the research director at the St. Louis Fed, and is the fifth person that outgoing President Donald Trump has put into their current roles on the Board.
Waller, whose term ends in 2030, took his oath remotely from his residence in St. Louis, the Fed said in a statement.
The Fed cut interest rates to near zero as the coronavirus spread in March and has promised to keep them there until the labor market has healed and inflation has risen to its 2% goal. The Fed this week also pledged to keep buying $120 billion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities each month until the economy has made “substantial progress” towards those goals.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
