Bush Wants Federal Reserve to Push Interest Rates Lower
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NEW YORK — President Bush wants the Federal Reserve to push interest rates lower, saying he doesn’t believe a further reduction will aggravate inflation, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Bush, interviewed Tuesday by The New York Times, said he disagreed with recent signals from the Fed’s governors that no further easing was needed because the economic recovery was underway.
“I’d like to see another lowering of interest rates,” Bush said. “I think there’s room to do that. I can understand people worrying about inflation. But I don’t think that’s the big problem now.”
Bush admistration officials have been seeking lower rates to ensure that recovery from the 1990-91 recession doesn’t fizzle out before the November election.
Over three years of economic stagnation and recession, the Fed has pushed interest rates down substantially.
Since April 9, however, it has paused, leaving the federal funds rate, the interest banks charge each other for overnight loans, at 3.75%
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