FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Naft
Jeff.Naft@mail.house.gov

Date: February 14, 2020
ICYMI: Hill Reacts to Fed Chair Testimony on Yahoo Finance
WASHINGTON D.C. — This week, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) joined Julie Hyman and Adam Shapiro on Yahoo Finance's On The Move to discuss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services.

Click HERE or on the image below to watch the full interview with Congressman Hill on Yahoo Finance.  


Key excerpts from Congressman Hill below: 

On Federal Reserve extending Repo Operations Until April: 


"This was a concern. I met with John Williams, the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank back in the fall, and I’ve talked to Chairman Powell about this. I was concerned that both supervision and regulation from the Dodd-Frank era have contributed to the fact that on an interday basis our banks are not participating in interday liquidity and in the repo market. So I’ve urged the Fed to look at supervisory aspects that may limit liquidity in the daily market. And the Fed has committed that they’re doing that. I think it’s an important additional step that they could consider besides just providing that liquidity with their own daily repo participation."

Concerns on High-Yield Debt: 

"I’ve been concerned and looking at high-yield bond yields.... I’m not sure people are being paid for the risk. We talked about what’s called the “high-yield bond cliff” where there are so many bonds that have been issued now at BBB. What impact might that have on retail investors and mutual fund investors if, in fact, we went into a downturn and those were downgraded and no longer were able to be held as investment-grade securities?"

The Future of the Market:

"Any time we’ve had an eleven-year expansion and zero interest rates, you have an opportunity for a market dislocation to take place. It appears to me that the fixed income market is a place to closely monitor. And that’s what led me to consider the risks associated with not getting paid for the risk people are taking in that high-yield part of the market."
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To learn more about Congressman French Hill, please visit:
Hill.House.Gov
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