Trump Team Should Help Reduce Fed’s Burden

The Federal Reserve's second-in-command was the latest to wade into a post-election debate over what policies the new US government should pursue, saying on Monday spending and other efforts to boost sluggish productivity could help reduce the Fed's burden of supporting the economy.

Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, addressing a scatter-shot of questions on what the election means for the US central bank, said the dollar's recent rise would not blind the Fed to its policy goals and he reiterated a long-held plan to trim the Fed's swollen balance sheet gradually over time, Reuters reported.

Noting there remained "enormous uncertainty" over what direction president-elect Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress would take the country, Fischer warned against "inviting further trouble" by eliminating some of the so-called Dodd-Frank financial regulations.

Yet "certain fiscal policies, particularly those that increase productivity, can increase the potential of the economy and help confront some of our longer-term economic challenges," said Fischer.