Economy

The Trump administration's plan to reduce the performance of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund would sacrifice the United States' most cost-efficient investment in itself.

The Treasury Department told the OMB that all 11 programs in the CDFI Fund are statutorily mandated. The White House said "no final decisions have been made" about the programs.

For the first time in four years, more small businesses reported a drop in income than an increase, according to a survey by the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks.

In an interview with American Banker, Belshe, who leads the world's largest independent cryptocurrency custodian, talked about regulatory changes under the new administration and his hopes for a digital asset market structure.

Presidents have long rushed to take credit for booms and distanced themselves from busts. But Trump's situation is unusual. The risks to the U.S. economy — potentially including stagflation or even recession — are closely linked to his own flagship initiative: a new tariff bonanza due in just over two weeks.

The bipartisan co-chairs of the Community Financial Development Institution caucus sent a letter urging the Trump administration to continue supporting the CDFI Fund after it was slated for cuts in a recent executive order.

After the Federal Reserve moved to slow the pace of quantitative tightening, the Fed chair floated the idea of continuing to allow mortgage-backed securities to roll off its books even after the central bank has met its monetary policy objectives in reducing its balance sheet.

The Federal Reserve has signaled that it will make no change to its policy rate in March. All eyes are on what comes next for the central bank amid heightened economic uncertainty.

The Treasury secretary pointed to figures from credit cards and banks as "very good underlying data."

President Donald Trump's executive order severely limiting the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution Fund has thrown the industry into confusion as financial companies try to quantify the damage.

Retired banker Brad Schwartz is set to join First National as finance chief; Bar Harbor Bankshares agrees to acquire Guaranty Bancorp; CDFI Friendly America reveals new data on lending; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Bankers' surveys of commercial clients have found that corporate decision-makers are less concerned about adverse tariff effects than nervous investors.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index is down more than 7% year to date. Analysts blame confusion caused by President Trump's evolving tariff policies and heightened worries about an economic downturn that could hurt banks' credit quality.

The 10-year-old lender, which reported a double-digit jump in profits, is benefiting from what its CEO called "animal spirits" at work on this side of the Atlantic.

Forecasters on an American Bankers Association panel predict continued economic growth this year, though they say President Trump's tariffs have created new inflation and recession risks.

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said the Founding Fathers supported independent money management and undoing it now would be a mistake.

Unclear and inconsistent signals from Washington about tariffs, tax policy and the capacity of federal agencies are already spurring more conservative consumer-spending habits and could drag down economic growth, economists say.