Goldman Sachs chief economist says Fed decisions will not be swayed by Powell criminal probe threat

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs' chief economist Jan Hatzius said on Monday that a criminal indictment threat facing the Federal Reserve chairman would ?reinforce central bank independence worries, but he expected the ?Fed to continue to make decisions based on ?data.

U.S. President Donald Trump's ?administration has ?ramped up its pressure campaign on the Fed, threatening ?to indict Chair Jerome Powell ?over comments to Congress about a building renovation project, an action ?Powell called a "pretext" ?to gain more ?influence over interest rates Trump wants cut dramatically.

"Obviously there are more concerns ?that Fed independence is going to be under the gun, with the latest news on the criminal investigation into Chair Powell really having reinforced those concerns," Hatzius ?said ?at a 2026 Goldman Sachs Global Strategy Conference.

"I have no doubt that ?he (Powell) in his remaining term as chair is going to make decisions based on the economic data and not be influenced one way or the other, cutting more or ?refusing to cut on the back of data that could push in that direction." (Reporting by David Milliken; ?Writing by Dhara Ranasinghe, editing by Alun John)