Mubasher: US President Donald Trump took aim at the Federal Reserve under his own appointee, chairman Jerome Powell, for raising interest rates, and reiterated his accusation that China was manipulating its own currency.  

“I’m not thrilled with his raising of interest rates, no,” Trump said in an interview with Thomson Reuters on Monday, adding that other countries were reaping the benefit of the central bank’s interest rate hikes.

“We’re negotiating very powerfully and strongly with other nations […] but during this period of time I should be given some help by the Fed,” Trump went on.

Since Trump took office, the Fed raised interest rates five times, two of which were carried two this year. The Fed is expected to hike rates again next month, after consumer price inflation hit 2.9% in July, the highest level recorded in six years.

In July, the US President criticised the central bank’s tightened monetary policy, sending a shudder of fear among investors.

On a separate note, Trump, once again, accused China of manipulating the yuan (CNY) to offset the costs of tariffs on its imports to the US.

“I think China’s manipulating their currency, absolutely, […] the euro is being manipulated also” to make up “for the fact they’re paying […] hundreds of millions of dollars and in some cases billions of dollars into the United States Treasury,” Trump said.

Last year, Trump picked Jerome Powell to replace the Fed’s former chair Janet Yellen