Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday kept their key interest rate steady, avoiding a potential stock market disruption and putting the central bank on the sidelines until after Election Day.
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“I can say emphatically that partisan politics plays no role in our decisions about the appropriate stance of monetary policy,” Yellen said at a news conference after the Fed announced its decision. “We do not discuss politics at our meetings and we do not take politics into account in our decisions.”
Nonetheless, the Fed’s actions can have significant political consequences.
The Federal Open Market Committee’s decision means voters are not likely to see big stock-price declines or a slowing economy before the Nov. 8 election. Clinton is counting on slowly improving views of the economy to hold off a late surge from Trump, who has made dissatisfaction with the sluggish pace of growth a centerpiece of his populist campaign. Stocks rose following the Fed’s announcement.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-janet-yellen-federal-reserve-228491