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Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told CNBC on Tuesday the economy is solid and expanding, rebuffing suggestions that the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates.
“The United States economy is strong, it’s growing,” Moynihan said in an interview with CNBC’s Wilfred Frost. “More people are working now than ever, the unemployment claims are low, wages are growing fast. … It’s a good place, right now.”
Moynihan was interviewed ahead of his speech at the Consumer Bankers Association’s annual conference. The 100-year-old Washington-based group represents the nation’s big retail lenders.
The CEO was specifically responding to CNBC’s question about whether the Fed needed to cut its benchmark interest rate immediately by 50 basis points, a suggestion made last week by Trump administration economic adviser Larry Kudlow.
“I don’t think we need to juice it,” Moynihan said, referring to the economy. “We’re at a 2 percent-plus growth economy, we’ve got low unemployment, and wages are growing faster than people think, and people are spending.”
While the world’s economies have slowed this year, the U.S. has weathered the downturn better than most countries, and growth would recover if the administration’s trade disputes are resolved, Moynihan said.
Separately, Bank of America’s trading revenue probably dropped about 15 percent in the first quarter amid a slow start to the year, Moynihan said. Equities revenue dropped more than 20 percent, in part because of the U.S. government shutdown.
