WHEN: Today, Monday, May 23, 2022
WHERE: CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Citi CEO Jane Fraser on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” (M-F, 9AM-11AM ET) today, Monday, May 23rd for Davos 2022 in Davos, Switzerland. Following is a link to video on CNBC.com:
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
FRASER ON RECESSION
JANE FRASER: I find it hard to see the US not, entering a recession in ’23 just because of labor market, the strength of balance sheets and we’re certainly seeing—
SARA EISEN: Oh you don’t see it happening.
FRASER: I don’t see it happening until ’23 at the earliest and then we’ll have to see how the next few months unfold. Anyone who says a certainty on the economy right now is a good fortune teller.
FRASER ON INFLATION
FRASER: Yes, we do expect there to be more. We’re expecting to be at least 200 basis point hike this year over where we are already. I think the good news is that the market’s reaction to it while it’s really volatile, it’s not disorderly. So have a look at the equities and markets at the moment, when we’re looking at our books, the investors are gradually reducing down the asset class. It’s not a sprint and a rush in the chaos to the door.
FRASER ON GLOBALIZATION
FRASER: Globalization has changed that we certainly see it. We have the benefit of operating in 160 countries as a local bank in ’97 and I’m extremely grateful for our local presence and the local capabilities because there’s a lot more complexity and those nuances as we help companies manage supply chain dynamics. Where do they move, how do they reconfigure flows is a is a huge asset. I’m very grateful we have it. So it’s becoming more local resilience is becoming important. Global transferability becomes very important for things like data, parts of value chain.
FRASER ON WARREN BUFFETT CALL
EISEN: Well you did get a boost of confidence from Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway in their latest filing. Was that, have you had interactions with the team there?
FRASER: I was delighted to have a conversation with Mr. Buffett. Who wouldn’t enjoy that phone call.
EISEN: He called you to say I’m buying your stock.
FRASER: He just called me to connect. And we’re, as you’d imagine, he’s a wonder investor. We’re delighted to have him in and we hope there will be more investors that will be following his footsteps as after our team delivers the progress and we’ve always said the proof will be in the pudding and we’re delivering the pudding.
