Trump says Fed has 'gone crazy'; Lagarde disagrees

Washington

PRESIDENT Donald Trump's decision to blame the Federal Reserve for Wednesday's stock market dive dramatically escalated months of public and private fuming over the central bank. "I think the Fed has gone crazy," Mr Trump told reporters before a rally in Pennsylvania.

Mr Trump appeared to be complaining that the central bank, which is run by a chairman he appointed several months ago, Jerome Powell, is steadily raising interest rates, a normal course of action when an economy is strengthening. But the head of the International Monetary Fund on Thursday defended Mr Powell. "I wouldn't associate Jay Powell with craziness," managing director Christine Lagarde told CNBC in an interview. "He comes across - and members of his board - as extremely serious, solid and certainly keen to base their decisions on actual information."