U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told senior White House advisers that she supports reappointing Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve for a second term, local media reported Saturday.

Quoting sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported that the White House has been looking more widely for possible candidates for the position and U.S. President Joe Biden hasn’t yet made a decision.

Yellen’s backing gives Powell an enormous boost, as she has almost two decades of experience at the central bank, the report said, adding uncertainty over the economic impact of the Delta variant virus may trigger more caution about changing leadership at the Fed in the midst of a crisis.

Powell took office as chair of the Fed in February 2018 after he was nominated by former President Donald Trump in November 2017 to succeed Yellen. The Fed chair serves a four-year term. Biden is likely to make a decision around Labor Day on Sept. 6, the report said.

Yellen’s support comes at an important time as Powell is scheduled to give a much-anticipated speech Aug. 27 during the annual Jackson Hole economic policy symposium, which may offer further clues on the Fed’s taper plan.

Most Fed officials indicated last month that it could be appropriate for the central bank to start tapering asset purchases this year if the U.S. economy were to evolve broadly as they anticipated, according to the minutes of the Fed’s recent policy meeting released last week.

The Fed has pledged to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record-low level of near zero, while continuing its asset purchase program at least at the current pace of US$120 billion per month until “substantial further progress” has been made on employment and inflation. (SD-Xinhua)