FRANKFURT, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The chiefs of many of the world's major central banks issued a joint statement in support of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday after the Trump administration threatened him with a criminal indictment.
"We stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell," the heads of the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and nine other institutions said.
"The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve," they added.
The U.S. administration's criminal probe is formally about the renovation of the Fed's headquarters but Powell called it a "pretext" to win presidential influence over interest rates.
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
((@FranCanJourno francesco.canepa@thomsonreuters.com; 004906975651247; Reuters Messaging: francesco.canepa.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
