U.S. President Donald Trump is leaning toward nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the next leader of the central bank, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
Citing three people familiar with the matter, the report said the decision isn't final and Trump could change his mind at any time.
Trump has recently finished interviews of five candidates for the next Fed Chair, including Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires next February.
Trump said on Monday that he was "very, very close" to making a decision on who is going to lead the central bank.
Trump's advisors have been steering him toward choosing either Powell or Taylor for the job. Powell is favored by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, while Taylor is favored by Vice President Mike Pence.
While Powell and Taylor are both Republicans, they would have much different approaches to running monetary policy at the central bank.
Powell is likely to continue Yellen's gradual and cautious approach to tightening monetary policy, while Taylor, who has advocated for a stricter policy rule, is considered more hawkish on raising interest rates.
Trump is expected to announce his decision on the Fed chair before leaving for a trip to Asia on Nov. 3.
