Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock has joined a group of leading central bankers in publicly backing US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, warning that attacks on the Fed threaten the principle of central bank independence after former president Donald Trump escalated his criticism.
In a statement signed by nine senior officials, including Bullock, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, the group said Powell had "served with integrity" and stressed that the independence of central banks was a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability.
The intervention follows moves by the US Justice Department to investigate Powell over his June congressional testimony on cost overruns and delays in renovations to the Fed’s headquarters, an issue Trump has seized on while repeatedly criticising the Fed for not cutting interest rates more aggressively.