Nov. 2 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said he will announce his nomination Thursday for the person to replace Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen early next year.
The president will announce his nominee at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, which will be streamed live by the White House.
“Tomorrow, I will be announcing the new head of the Fed,” Trump said in a tweet. “I think you will be extremely impressed by this person!”
Yellen has led the U.S. central bank since early 2014 and her 4-year term expires in February. For weeks, it’s been unknown whether Trump would reappoint Yellen, nominated to the post by former President Barack Obama, to another term.
Trump indicated to The Wall Street Journal last Spring that renominating Yellen was possible. In more recent weeks, though, it has appeared the president wants to nominate someone else.
Several candidates have been floated as possible replacements — but the frontrunners appear to be Fed Governor Jerome “Jay” Powell and John Taylor, an economist at Stanford.
Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate and has even met with Trump and Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin.
“Whoever it will be, they will still have to deal with the macro situation that they encounter,” Christian Keller, head of economics research at Barclays, told CNBC.
Trump’s announcement Thursday is expected to have a significant impact on the U.S. markets. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve voted to leave key interest rates unchanged.
