The clearest appeal so far to the US Federal Bank (Fed) made by US Finance Minister Scott Bessed in order to make a series of reductions in interest ratesuggesting that the basic interest rate should be at least 1.5 percentage points lower than the current.
“I think we could make a series of interest rate cuts, starting with a 50 -base reduction in September,” the US minister said in a television interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday (13.08.2025), with a clear recipient of the Fed. “If you look at any model”, this shows that “we should probably be 150,175 lower basis points”.
Fed policymakers maintained their reference rate at 4.25% to 4.5% at the last policy meeting. Bessed reiterated his view that if officials were aware of the revised labor market data two days after the meeting, they might have reduced interest rates. This could also apply to the June meeting, he added.
“I suspect that we could have interest rates in June and July,” Besed said, referring to the data published by the Labor Statistics Office on August 1st, which reviewed wage increases in May and June by 258,000. Finance ministers usually avoid making specific statements about Fed interest rates, and Bessed himself says he will only discuss only previous decisions of the Central Bank and not the future. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Jerome Powell for abstaining from interest rates this year.
Nomination for the presidency
Powell and many of his colleagues have stated that they want to see more evidence of any impact of duties on inflation and inflation expectations.
Bessed said there are 10 or 11 candidates being examined to succeed Powell when his term as president expires in May without mentioning their names. He said the list includes both current Fed executives and private sector people.
He also said that Stephen Miran, whom Trump has appointed to fill the existing vacant position on the Fed Board of Directors, is not expected to remain in the Central Bank after January, when his term expires.