US Fed official says central bank can cut rates as soon as July
WASHINGTON: A US Federal Reserve official said Friday (Jun 20) that the central bank could cut interest rates as early as July, after policymakers this week kept rates unchanged for a fourth straight meeting.
"We can start the process of bringing rates down, and then if there's some big shock due to maybe the Middle East conflict, we can pause," Fed governor Christopher Waller told CNBC in an interview.
"I think we're in that position that we could do this, and as early as July," he added.
The Fed has held the benchmark lending rate steady at a range between 4.25 per cent and 4.50 per cent since the start of the year, despite President Donald Trump repeatedly urging the independent central bank for rate reductions.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the bank would make smarter decisions if it waited to understand how Trump's tariffs impact the world's biggest economy, expecting to learn more over the summer.
"I think you'd want to start slow," Waller said on CNBC. "But start the process, that's the key thing."
He argued that central banks should "look through tariff effects on inflation" and focus instead on the underlying trend in price increases.
Waller added that even if tariffs impacted costs, he anticipates this to be a "one-off level effect" that should not cause persistent inflation.
His comments come as Fed policymakers appear increasingly divided on whether they can cut rates at all this year.
Powell noted Wednesday that the tariffs' effects on inflation could be one-off or persistent, saying officials are "well-positioned to wait to learn more" before considering interest rate changes.
On Trump's recent remarks that slashing rates was a way for the country to pay less interest on debt, Waller told CNBC it was the job of Congress and the Treasury Department to ensure a sustainable fiscal situation.
Referring to the Fed, Waller said: "Our mandate from Congress tells us to worry about unemployment and price stability, and that's what we're doing."
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