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Donald Trump has said he will name his pick for Federal Reserve chair on Friday, which would end months of speculation over who will replace Jay Powell at the helm of the world’s most important central bank.
Trump said at a Kennedy Center event to mark the premiere of Melania, the documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, that he would announce his candidate to head the US central bank “tomorrow morning”.
“It’s going to be somebody who is very respected, somebody who is known to everybody in the financial world,” the US president said. “I think he is going to be a very good chair.”
Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh emerged as the frontrunner late on Thursday, amid speculation that White House officials have cooled on the candidacy of BlackRock executive Rick Rieder.
Polymarket showed odds of 79 per cent for Warsh at 7.30pm in Washington. Rieder’s probability is down to 11 per cent.
Trump, who has said on several occasions that an announcement is imminent, earlier on Thursday said he expected to name his pick next week.
Powell, who has repeatedly faced Trump’s ire over his reluctance to slash interest rates, is set to step down as chair in May.