Washington (AP) – Charles Evans is retiring in the early part of next year, after serving 15 years as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. His tenure made him the longest-serving regional Fed president.
Evans was a prominent supporter of lower interest rates among Fed executives. He is leaving at a time when the Fed is struggling to decide how fast and high it should raise interest rates in order to fight inflation, which has reached its lowest level in over 40 years.
Evans is one of eight regional Fed presidents who participate in central bank policy meetings every year. Each year, however, only four of the twelve regional bank presidents vote to decide central bank interest rate policies. Next year, the Chicago Fed president will be eligible to vote.
The Chicago Fed stated that Evans was a “strong supporter of” improving communication between the central bank and the public. Evans also mentioned that he was a key contributor to the Fed’s “points scheme”, which anonymously displays each bank’s preferred path to interest rates for the next four years.
According to Chicago Fed, the committee was formed to replace Evans. The search committee was headed by Helen Gale CEO of Chicago Community Trust and David Hager CEO of JD Power (a vehicle inspection website).
Evans’ departure will not result in significant changes to the Fed’s policy-making according to Michael Fogliza of Wells Fargo.
Fogliza stated that “I wouldn’t expect us to make substantial changes to our monetary policy forecast,” referring to Wells Fargo’s forecast.
