(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that interest rates can remain on hold as the U.S. central bank waits to see how conditions abroad evolve, signaling that there’s no clear time limit to the Fed’s current pause.

“Inflation is muted and our policy rate we think is in an appropriate place,” Powell said in an wide-ranging interview with correspondent Scott Pelley that aired Sunday on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” calling the current rate setting “roughly neutral” -- meaning its neither stoking nor slowing growth -- and explaining that the Fed could wait and take in more data.

“Patient means that we don’t feel any hurry to change our interest rate policy,” he said.

The Fed leader said he and his colleagues will be looking at growth, job creation, wages and inflation as it thinks about its next steps, and will keep an eye on China, Europe and events including Britain’s ongoing exit negotiations with the European Union.

“And we’ll be putting that all together and deciding when it will be appropriate to change our policy,” Powell said.

Interview Tradition

Powell’s predecessors were also interviewed by CBS in the past, and at critical junctures. Janet Yellen did her exit interview with CBS’s Rita Braver, and Ben Bernanke appeared on “60 Minutes” -- also with Pelley -- as the Fed grappled in 2009 and 2010 with a recession and its aftermath.

The prime-time show, which has run for more than 50 years, has drawn weekly audiences of 8 million to 11 million this year, according to Nielsen figures, making it an important way to communicate with the broader U.S. public.

Powell isn’t facing an economic crisis -- the U.S. posted solid growth of 3.1 percent in 2018, inflation is just under the Fed’s 2-percent goal, and the unemployment rate is holding at its lowest since the 1960s. The expansion, now in its 10th year, is set to become the longest on record at midyear.

“The outlook for the U.S. economy is favorable,” Powell said. “The principal risks to our economy now seem to be coming from slower growth in China and Europe and also risk events such as Brexit.”

But Powell’s evolving public outreach comes as the Fed combats political concerns. The U.S. is heading into a presidential election season at a time when the central bank has transitioned from stimulating the economy to trying to stabilizing it. The Fed has also designated 2019 as a year to review its monetary policy strategy, tools and communication.

Trump’s Criticism

On Twitter and in speeches, President Donald Trump has repeatedly lambasted the Fed chief he installed in February 2018 for raising interest rates last year, culminating with a fourth hike in December. U.S. stocks suffered their worst December since the Great Depression. In January, the Fed shifted to a more patient stance on rate moves amid below-target inflation.

Trump backed away from his commentary for a time, and had a dinner with Powell in February in which the pair discussed the economy, but not monetary policy. The president renewed his criticism a week ago, though, in a speech to a conservative gathering, referring to the Fed chief as “a gentleman who likes raising interest rates.”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment on the president,” Powell said when asked about Trump’s comments. But Powell said he doesn’t think the president has the authority to fire him. “The law is clear that I have a four-year term. And I fully intend to serve it.”

--With assistance from Christopher Condon.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeanna Smialek in New York at jsmialek1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.