BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Central bank independence is being questioned in parts of the world and greater political influence over policy could increase economic volatility, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Monday.
“While recent research suggests that de jure central bank independence has never been more prevalent than it is today, there is no doubt that the de facto independence of central banks is being called into question in several parts of the world,” Lagarde told a Hungarian central bank conference.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week said he would demand that the Federal Reserve lower borrowing costs, claiming that he knew interest rates “much better than the one who’s primarily in charge of making that decision”.
