Trump Bashes Fed, Sees Germany’s Negative Bond Sale as Positive
Trump Bashes Fed, Sees Germany’s Negative Bond Sale as Positive
(Bloomberg) --
President Donald Trump resumed his assault on the U.S. central bank Thursday, turning Germany’s sale of negative-yield bonds into a criticism of the Federal Reserve.
“Germany sells 30 year bonds offering negative yields,” Trump tweeted. “Germany competes with the USA. Our Federal Reserve does not allow us to do what we must do. They put us at a disadvantage against our competition.”
Germany on Wednesday attempted to sell 2 billion euros of zero-coupon bonds in an auction. It failed to generate the expected demand with investors purchasing 824 million euros worth of the securities at an average yield of -0.11%, a record low.
The sale represents cheap financing for the German government, but more importantly demonstrates how weak the European economy is. Some investors are so skeptical over growth prospects they are willing to pay for the safety of government bonds.
Though the Fed cut rates in the U.S. by a quarter-point on July 31 to guard against a potential downturn made more likely by Trump’s ongoing trade disputes, the president has repeatedly called for the central bank to slash rates more aggressively.
“They move like quicksand,” Trump said in his tweet. “Fight or go home!”
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Condon in Washington at ccondon4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alister Bull at abull7@bloomberg.net, Jeff Kearns
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