A full recovery in the US economy could take until late next year, according to Fed Reserve chief Jerome Powell. “The economy will recover,” Powell told CBS on Sunday. Assuming that there is no second wave of the corona virus, he expects a steady recovery in the second half of this year.
The process could drag on until the end of next year. Powell did not rule out that a prerequisite could be a vaccine against the virus. “For the economy to fully recover, people have to have complete trust.” A vaccine may be necessary for this.
Trump hopes for vaccine by the end of 2020
US President Donald Trump is driving vaccine development and hopes to use it by the end of the year. However, he made it clear on Friday that, in his view, a vaccine is not a prerequisite for an economic recovery. “Vaccine or no vaccine: we are back,” he said, referring to what he was trying to do to reopen the economy.
The entire interview should be broadcast on Monday night. The heads of the US Federal Reserve rarely address a larger audience in this way.
Rare step to television interview
Powell’s appearance on “60 Minutes” is his second television interview since the US Federal Reserve began to fight the aftermath of the epidemic. Powell had recently warned of a long dry spell in the economy and thus startled the stock markets.
The Federal Reserve has lowered its key bank money supply to zero to 0.25 percent and launched trillion-dollar economic support programs. It is under pressure from the US government to take further measures: President Trump demands negative interest rates. (dpa / apa)
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