Jerome Powell, chair of the US Federal Reserve, is reported to have been the subject of a prank call from supporters of Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
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Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stolyarov are Russian comedians and staunch patriots. The duo, who have previously pranked high-profile individuals such as European Central Bank head, Christine Lagarde and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, claimed responsibility for Powell’s phone call with someone purporting to be Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Russian pranksters displayed their latest prank on Powell via Russian television, which aired a video call with Powell from January 2023. Powell believed he was speaking to Zelensky and the Federal Reserve has said it will be referring the issue to law enforcement after the pranksters’ revelations.
What Did Powell And The Pranksters Talk About?
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A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve reiterated that Powell did not divulge any “sensitive or confidential information” to the men purporting to be Zelensky. They described it as a “friendly conversation”.
Video clips of the chat have recently circulated, with Powell appearing to discuss topical issues such as the decision-making of Russia’s central bank and taming US-based inflation. The pranksters are shown to ask Powell about his approach to inflation rates in the US and he said the Fed would “absolutely” hike rates further if inflation falls less than anticipated. The Fed revealed that these clips appeared to have been edited prior to their broadcast on Russian state television.
Powell Is One Of The Most Influential Figures In The Business World Right Now
Powell and the Fed have adopted one of the most hawkish standpoints of all the world’s leading central banks in the last 12 months. Many have used the weekly economic calendar listing all the major speeches and data on the developed nations to catch Powell’s regular talks and understand how much further America’s monetary tightening cycle has to run. After its most recent rate hike to between 5%-5.25%, Powell intimated that this could be the peak, at least for the time being to allow for the ripple effects of its previous hikes to play out.
There is another broadcast, which the Fed also believes has been edited, showing Powell suggesting that a recession was “almost as likely” as minimal growth. Powell says this is “partly” due to the interest rate hike.
The US economy is also on something of a knife edge at present, with the threat of a default looming. US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, has called on Congress to work together to find a way to increase the nation’s debt ceiling or risk running out of money by next month. Yellen fears that its wage and welfare payments would be at risk should the federal government be limited in how much more it can borrow.
President Biden wants his Republican counterparts to consider increasing the current debt ceiling which amounts to over £25 trillion. The debt ceiling in America has been altered some 78 times in the last 63 years. In many cases, cross-party negotiations have gone down to the final hours and this time looks like being no different in that regard.
