Trump Calls For Interest Rates Of 'zero Or Less'

US President Donald Trump wants "interest rates down to ZERO, or less," he tweeted on Wednesday amid widespread expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates later this month.

"We should then start to refinance our debt. INTEREST COST COULD BE BROUGHT WAY DOWN, while at the same time substantially lengthening the term," he added.

"It is only the naivete of Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve that doesn't allow us to do what other countries are already doing. A once in a lifetime opportunity that we are missing because of 'Boneheads,'" Trump said, in perhaps his most insulting comment to date about the US central bank.

As it becomes increasingly apparent that the US economy has slowed in 2019, in large part because of concerns about Trump's trade war with China, Trump has publicly berated Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the independent Fed for failing to loosen monetary policy fast enough.

The "Federal Reserve should get our interest rates down to ZERO, or less," Trump said.

Investors overwhelmingly expect the Fed to deliver a 25-basis-point rate cut next week. But cutting to zero would be an extreme move reserved only for a severe economic crisis.

After raising the benchmark lending rate four times last year, to a range of 2.0-2.25 percent, the central bank cut in July for the first time in more than a decade, partly as insurance against the impact of trade uncertainties on the economy.

Powell has vowed to act to ensure that American economic expansion continues but warned the central bank has no "rulebook" for dealing with trade conflict. (AFP)