{"id":232022,"date":"2026-01-14T03:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/232022\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T03:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:34:07","slug":"winston-peters-takes-aim-at-reserve-bank-governor-anna-breman-for-comments-on-us-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/232022\/","title":{"rendered":"Winston Peters takes aim at Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman for comments on US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bank did release a statement earlier, prior to Peters\u2019 intervention, saying Dr Breman had co-signed as \u201cshe and the RBNZ believe strongly in the independence of central banks\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statement was discussed at the BIS Global Economy Meeting, which Dr Breman attended from 1-3am on 14 January. The statement was signed by a large number of central banks including the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, and all ECB central banks.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr Breman\u2019s signature on the statement indicates the support of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which is statutorily independent from the New Zealand Government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement issued this week by several heads of central banks said they stood<\/a> \u201cin full solidarity with the Federal Reserve system and its chair Jerome H. Powell\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability. <\/p>\n

\u201cChair Powell has served with integrity, focused on his mandate and an unwavering commitment to the public interest. To us, he is a respected colleague who is held in the highest regard by all who have worked with him.\u201d <\/p>\n

Among those who signed the letter are Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank; Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey; Michele Bullock, of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and Breman. <\/p>\n

It comes after the US Justice Department launched a probe<\/a> into Powell relating to the renovation of Federal Reserve office buildings. <\/p>\n

\"JeromeJerome Powell says the investigation is because of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates independently and not in response to US President Donald Trump’s wishes. Photo \/ Saul Loeb<\/p>\n

Powell has said the threat of criminal charges were a consequence<\/a> of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates \u201cbased on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration\u2019s threats and ongoing pressure.\u201d <\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Powell was a \u201cjerk\u201d<\/a> and a \u201clousy Fed chairman\u201d. <\/p>\n

The investigation has been viewed by some in the US as retaliation for the Federal Reserve not bringing interest rates down as quickly as the President wished, though Trump has denied any connection to the probe. <\/p>\n

Jamie Ensor is the NZ Herald\u2019s Chief Political Reporter, based in the Press Gallery at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office. He was a finalist in 2025 for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bank did release a statement earlier, prior to Peters\u2019 intervention, saying Dr Breman had co-signed as \u201cshe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16751,74,7229,5845,1975,1643,107418,37432,37462,5782,26034,137769,14051,2082,4756,2070,25807,42,16718,296,12898,25621,6148,1743,6722,43,90,6729,25622,137768,10665,48613,137770,9343,1120,40,38,41,39,3040,6728,102],"class_list":["post-232022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-affairs","tag-after","tag-aim","tag-anna","tag-at","tag-bank","tag-breman","tag-chair","tag-chairman","tag-comments","tag-department","tag-expressing","tag-federal","tag-for","tag-foreign","tag-full","tag-governor","tag-headlines","tag-him","tag-into","tag-investigation","tag-jerome","tag-justice","tag-launched","tag-minister","tag-news","tag-on","tag-peters","tag-powell","tag-rebuked","tag-reserve","tag-signing","tag-solidarity","tag-statement","tag-takes","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us","tag-winston","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}