White House Wants Volcker to Stay On

WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan said Wednesday that the Administration wants Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker to stay in his job through the end of his term in August, 1987, and raised the possibility that he might be asked to serve another term.

In what appeared to be an effort to calm fears that there is serious discord in the nation’s central bank or wide policy disagreements between the Fed and the White House, Regan said that the views of Volcker and President Reagan on basic monetary issues “are not that far off.”

Unless Volcker himself “is unhappy or in ill health or gets an offer he can’t refuse,” Regan said, “I see no reason why he should step aside.”

When the time comes to think about the next chairman of the Fed, around June, 1987, Regan said, “We’ll have to talk to Volcker about what does he want to do. . . . I don’t rule anything out. I would never commit to anything, particularly in the economic and monetary fields, 15 months in advance.”

He also said it was unlikely that Economic Council Chairman Beryl Sprinkel--a longtime Volcker critic--will be moved into the Fed seat to be vacated next month by Vice Chairman Preston Martin, who resigned last week.

Regan insisted that recent turmoil at the Fed, which included the rare event of the chairman being outvoted by a majority of his own board, followed by Martin’s subsequent surprise resignation, had been “blown out of proportion” and was not a “cataclysmic” event.

He also vigorously denied that he has any personal animus against Volcker or was conducting a vendetta against him, as has been reported in Wall Street circles.

“I like Paul Volcker, although there have been times professionally when we have disagreed on monetary policy,” Regan said.