Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, May 23, 2022.
Adam Galica | CNBC
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American consumers are “in good shape” and will continue to spend at a high rate, at least in the short term, according to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
“Consumers are in good shape, not overleveraged,” said Moynihan, CEO of the second-largest US bank by assets. mentioned Bloomberg Television in Davos, Switzerland.
Bank customers have checking and savings accounts that are even larger than before the pandemic and are spending 10% more in May so far than in the same period a year ago, a- he declared.
“What’s going to stop them? Nothing yet,” Moynihan said.
The Federal Reserve is in the midst of an inflation-fighting campaign that has hit markets, particularly for once-high-flying growth stocks. There are growing fears that inflation at its highest level in decades and a central bank reining in easy money policies could push the economy into recession. American consumers could help the United States avoid this scenario.
“The Fed has this usually very difficult thing to do that it slows down without overdoing it,” Moynihan said. “I think they will be able to handle this flow, but it will be difficult. »
Among bank CEOs, Moynihan has been the most optimistic about America’s ability to avoid a recession. Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon put a 66% odds in his favor that the United States will experience some sort of economic downturn.
“The odds are this: Kind of like, yeah, they can engineer a soft landing, one-third percent chance,” Dimon told Bloomberg. “Probably a third of a percent chance they could trigger a mild recession…and then there’s a chance it could be a lot harder than that.” »
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