WASHINGTON DC, US (AFP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen condemned Tuesday a bill in Congress to “audit” the Fed, saying it would inject politics into the work of the world’s most powerful central bank.

Yellen said strongly that the bill submitted by Republican Senator Rand Paul in late January demanding more transparency in the operations of the Fed would obstruct its work and damage its reputation, and could hurt management of the US economy.

“I strongly oppose ‘Audit the Fed,'” she told a hearing of the Senate Bank Committee.

“‘Audit the Fed’ is a bill that would politicise monetary policy.”

Paul, a staunch libertarian, objects to the extent of the Fed’s actions in the economy — particularly its management of interest rates.

Supporters of the “audit” movement also accuse the central bank of printing too much money in support of the economy during and after the 2008-2009 Great Recession, risking US economic stability.

The bills would potentially allow Congress more powers to get involved in the Fed’s decision-making process on setting interest rates and on market intervention.

They have gained momentum since the Republicans seized control of Congress in the November elections.

But Yellen insisted the Fed’s operations were already substantially transparent.

“The Federal Reserve is extensively audited,” she said, citing the regular reviews of the Fed’s books by accounting giant Deloitte.

She said countries with independent central banks perform much better. In central banks vulnerable to political pressure, she said, politicians sometimes simply pressure them to print money to overcome budget gaps that require other, more difficult, reform measures.

“Independent central banks perform better,” she said.