Bessent Urges Fed to Cut Rates by 150 bps or More

US TREASURY SECRETARY Scott Bessent made his most explicit call yet for the Federal Reserve to execute a cycle of interest-rate cuts, suggesting the central bank's benchmark ought to be at least 1.5 percentage points lower than it is now.

- BLOOMBERG

"I think we could go into a series of rate cuts here, starting with a 50 basis-point rate cut in September," Bessent said in a television interview on Bloomberg Surveillance Wednesday.

"If you look at any model," it suggests that "we should probably be 150, 175 basis points lower."