Faced with continuous pressure from the White House, the Federal Reserve decided to maintain interest rates unchanged.

Reference News, July 31 report - According to AFP, on July 30, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive time as expected, but for the first time in a rare instance, two board members voted against it, advocating for a rate cut.

Chair Jerome Powell stated at a press conference that the Federal Reserve needs more time to observe the U.S. economic trend before deciding whether to adjust interest rates.

He emphasized that "there remains a large amount of uncertainty to be clarified" regarding the impact of the Trump administration's new tariffs on imported goods.

The report said that the current Federal Reserve benchmark rate remains in the range of 4.25% to 4.50%, which guides credit costs and has a significant impact on the market.

Additionally, Powell's remarks imply that the rate may remain unchanged at the September meeting.

Among the 12 voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, two voted against, which is the first time in over 30 years. According to the Federal Reserve statement, Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller advocated for a 25 basis point rate cut. Both have close ties with Trump. Bowman was recently appointed as vice chair of the bank system regulatory authority under Trump's influence, while Waller is seen as a potential successor to Powell.

Analysts pointed out that this is the first time in over 30 years that two board members have opposed a resolution at the same meeting.

The Federal Reserve expects the new tariffs to slow economic growth, raise inflation, and increase unemployment. Powell said, "We have seen the initial impact of tariffs on commodity prices." Shortly before, Trump again claimed there is "no inflation" and urged Powell to cut rates.

According to the report, regarding Trump's visit to the renovation project at the Federal Reserve headquarters (he criticized the project for being too costly), Powell responded on July 30 that "it is an honor to host the president's visit," and defended the independence of the Federal Reserve in the name of the public interest, preventing political officials from "intervening in interest rates for election purposes."

Bill Adams, an analyst at U.S. Bank, noted: "Political pressure is unlikely to affect the Federal Reserve's decisions before Powell's term ends." (Translated by Zhao Ke Xin)

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