Bullard quotes the president's "prerogative" on appointments to the Fed

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – It's unlikely that the appointment of presidential adviser Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve will change the policy of the US central bank because it would only be one vote among others, at the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, said Thursday.

"It's a very large committee, made up of 19 full members. So, no voice will dominate in this environment, "said Bullard. "There is a huge staff with a lot, a lot of badysis on the place that should take monetary policy, so it also influences judgment."

President Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate Moore, a Wall Street Journal columnist and think-tank badyst, who severely criticizes Fed President Jerome Powell for an open seat on the central bank's board of governors.

Bullard said he was not familiar with Moore, but downplayed the risks that the central bank could run due to a clearly partisan nomination or Trump's public criticism of Fed policy .

"I see a lot of continuity in monetary policy," Bullard told reporters after speaking at a conference on monetary policy at the University of Wisconsin. "A president is free to choose who he wants to think he would best represent his point of view. It is certainly his prerogative. "

There are currently five members on the Board of Governors, with two seats open. Candidates for the Board are subject to the approval of the Senate. The 12 regional bank governors, recruited by local boards of directors and not appointed by an elected representative, also take part in the elaboration of policies in turn.

Last year, Trump repeatedly criticized the Fed for raising interest rates – what the Fed did four times in 2018 – saying that the measures taken by the central bank would thwart the recovery economic.

Fed policymakers believe that rate hikes could actually help extend the duration of the recovery by reducing the risk of too fast inflation or dangerous imbalances in the financial markets.

Nevertheless, the Fed has suspended further increases this year due to signs of a slowing economy and increased risks from abroad.

Mr. Moore, who advised Trump on the tax reduction plan, strongly criticized the quarter-point rate increases approved by the Fed in September and December of last year, and recently stated that rates should now be reduced by 50 basis points to compensate for them.

Mr. Bullard, who had anticipated additional rate increases earlier than many of his Fed colleagues, said it was premature to discuss a rate cut and that he felt, in fact, that the economy would probably rebound for the rest of the year after a recent wave of weakness.