President Donald Trump said he would choose a successor for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who wants to cut interest rates, a condition that would strike at the heart of the central bank’s independence.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would not appoint anyone to head the Federal Reserve who would not lower interest rates from where they are, setting perhaps the most explicit litmus test yet for candidates to be the next central bank chief to align with his demands for steep rate cuts in order to get the job.

Donald Trump has said he will only pick a new Federal Reserve chair who will cut US interest rates, as he called on the central bank to slash borrowing costs to 1 per cent.