On March 21, local time, the Federal Reserve released the audit results of its 2024 financial statements, which showed that the Federal Reserve's operating loss in 2024 was as high as US$77.6 billion (approximately RMB 560 billion) , marking the second consecutive year of large losses. The loss in 2023 was as high as US$114.5 billion.

Analysts said that the main reason for the Fed's huge losses was its strong support for the economy during the epidemic in 2020 and 2021, and its sharp interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to cope with high inflation, raising the benchmark interest rate from near zero to a range of 5.25%-5.5%.

According to the Securities Times, the Federal Reserve's income comes from the services it provides to banks and the interest on the bonds it holds. According to the law, the Federal Reserve must pay its profits to the U.S. Treasury. According to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, from 2011 to 2021, the Federal Reserve paid nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. Treasury.

But Fed officials stressed that the measure reflects paper losses and will not affect their ability to implement monetary policy.

The Fed's balance sheet includes assets such as Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, on which the central bank earns income like other investors. Its liabilities include banks' deposits at the Fed, known as "reserves," on which the central bank pays interest.

It should be noted that operating losses will not cause the Fed to request funds from the U.S. Treasury, nor will it affect its daily operations. This is because profitability and interest income are not the Fed's direct goals, but a by-product of its monetary policy operations . The Fed's goal is to maintain a stable and appropriate level of inflation and a healthy labor market.

According to CCTV News, on the 19th local time, while the Federal Reserve announced that the interest rate level would remain unchanged, it lowered its forecast for U.S. GDP growth in 2025 and changed the key statement about the U.S. economy in the statement, changing "uncertainty in the economic outlook" to "uncertainty in the economic outlook has increased." This slight difference in wording has once again made whether the U.S. economy, which has been discussed extremely frequently, a recession a hot topic among the media and experts.

CCTV reporter Xu Tao said: Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said in a press conference that recent signs indicate that consumer spending has slowed after rapid growth in the second half of 2024. Surveys of households and businesses show that uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased. When asked about the risk of a recession in the United States, Powell said that some forecasters have slightly raised the probability of a recession, but the risk of a recession "remains at a relatively mild level."

U.S. President Trump urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates on the 19th, acknowledging that tariffs have an impact on the U.S. economy and requiring the Federal Reserve to "do the right thing."

Trump posted on social media that day that the Federal Reserve would be better off cutting interest rates because the impact of U.S. tariffs is beginning to gradually permeate the economy.

Regarding Trump's statement, some analysts believe that the recent frequent introduction of tariff measures by the US government against trading partners has attracted criticism and countermeasures, which is having an impact on the US economic growth prospects.

Against this backdrop, Trump’s demand for the Fed’s monetary policy to provide a hedge against the impact of his tariff measures has become more urgent. In fact, even during his first term, Trump frequently publicly criticized the Fed and its chairman Powell, often urging the Fed to cut interest rates, which was seen by some as a challenge to the Fed’s independence.

Fed Chairman Powell: It is very difficult to make an accurate assessment of how much inflation is caused by tariff policies. But the answer is very clear that part of it, a large part of it, is indeed caused by tariff policies.

The latest economic outlook released by the Federal Reserve on the same day showed that the median inflation forecast for this year, measured by the personal consumption expenditure price index, was 2.7%, higher than the 2.5% forecast in December last year. The median forecast for core inflation excluding food and energy prices was 2.8%, also higher than the 2.5% in December last year. The Federal Reserve pointed out that the uncertainty of the US economic outlook has increased.

Fed Chairman Powell: Looking ahead, the U.S. government is making major policy changes in four different areas, including trade, immigration, fiscal policy and government regulation. These changes and their impact on the economic outlook are highly uncertain.

An article published on the website of the British "Economist" believes that Trump's policies are in huge conflict with the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Reserve is under pressure.