Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said on Wednesday that consumers continue to spend and economic growth should be strong this year.
Despite research showing confidence has been low for nearly three years amid growing concerns about inflation, Moynihan told CNBC that consumers are still paying for it, but are still paying for it, while consumers are still paying for it, moving towards goods and services.
“We’re in this classic moment… consumers say, ‘I’m even more pessimistic.’ “But if they actually see what they do every day, they’re continuing to spend, meaning the economy should be able to withstand better than people think.”
From a numerical perspective, the bank’s chief said gross domestic product growth this year is close to 2%, close to 3%, from recent trends. Part of the slowdown comes from President Donald Trump’s tariffs. This estimated that Moynihan would reduce growth rates by around 0.4% before the economy adjusted.
But he said the 2% level was “growing trend growth, something we’ve all been trying to reach over the 10 or 15 years of the financial crisis.”
“It should be a good for the economy as consumers continue to be solid,” Moynihan added. “There are a lot of questions out there and I think it’ll be sorted out. But now we’re not talking about what’s going to happen, we’re talking about. Consumers continue to spend quite a lot of effort on the first part of the year.”
FRB Outlook
The interview came on the same day the Federal Reserve issued its latest decision on interest rates. The market offers little opportunity to cut through meetings. Moynihan supported the bank’s appeal not only that the central bank will not move on Wednesday, but will also be on hold until 2026.
“I think the Fed will not know what the tariffs will be impacted and will be a little more cautious about cutting,” he said. “They might want to grab the firepower they built up over the last year or so.
Moynihan added that it would be better to maintain a “real interest rate” close to zero, which was common due to the financial crisis towards the Covid pandemic.
