Washington (awp / dpa) – Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday pledged efforts will be made to ensure that diverse candidates have the opportunity to replace regional bank presidents who recently left the US Central Bank.
As two regional chairman positions have been vacated with the hasty retirements of Robert Kaplan (Dallas branch) and Eric Rosengren (Boston), the Fed boss has been pressed before a House committee to diversify the appointments to the highest bodies of the institution.
In response to a question from an elected official suggesting that a member from a minority background be appointed, Mr Powell replied: “I can absolutely guarantee you that we will do everything possible to give a fair chance to candidates from the minority. diversity in these two positions, ”said Powell.
“This will be one of the priorities of this selection,” he added.
The two departing chairmen of the Fed’s regional offices in Dallas and Boston announced their resignation on Monday after coming under fire for questionable stock trading.
The lack of diversity at the Fed, especially in the ranks of leaders participating in the choices of monetary policy, has been a recurring criticism for several years.
In 2017, Raphael Bostic became the first African-American president of a Fed branch in Atlanta. But it goes back four years already.
On this theme of diversity, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was also attending this congressional hearing, confirmed that iconic black abolitionist figure Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) would be on the new $ 20 bills.
The plan to replace the effigy of populist President Andrew Jackson on the $ 20 bills with the anti-slavery activist was announced by the Obama administration but abandoned by Donald Trump.
“We believe that it is very important that our notes reflect the diversity of our country and I do not see a more adequate way, to honor the courage of Harriet Tubman in his fight to free the slaves, than to see it on our 20 dollar bills, ”Ms. Yellen said.
She recalled, without specifying a timetable, that the process would take time due to the design of anti-counterfeiting devices that will appear on the new banknotes.
afp / jh
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