Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell arrives for the plenary session of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) IMF) in Washington, Friday, April 14, 2023.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
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Jose Luis Magana/AP
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell arrives for the plenary session of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) IMF) in Washington, Friday, April 14, 2023.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was duped in a lengthy phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Powell appeared to discuss the effects economic impact of rising interest rates.
Video of the phone call was posted on social media. In a clip, Powell said that “recession is almost as likely as growth is very slow” this year. Mr. Powell has previously said that the Fed’s series of rapid rate hikes over the past year will slow the economy and potentially even trigger a recession.
A spokesman for the Federal Reserve said “the video appears to have been edited and I cannot confirm it is accurate.”
“Chairman Powell engaged in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented himself as the president of Ukraine,” the spokesperson said. “It was a friendly conversation and took place as we support the people of Ukraine in this challenging time. No sensitive or confidential information was discussed.”
The spokesperson would not say whether the call demonstrated that the Fed faced a security flaw or what steps would be taken to try to prevent it from happening again.
“The matter has been referred to the appropriate law enforcement and out of respect for their efforts, we will not comment further,” the spokesperson said.
Phone call allegedly carried out by a longtime Russian prankster duo, Vladimir Kutznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, according to Bloomberg News. The pair have previously tricked other world leaders into entering conversations under false pretenses, including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde earlier this year and then-British Foreign Secretary Mr. Boris Johnson in 2018.
The Powell incident came to light at a time when the Fed was under scrutiny for raising interest rates aimed at cooling the economy and slow inflation. However, if the Fed keeps interest rates too high for too long, a recession is possible.
