Bessent Hints Fed Should Be Open to a Half-Point Rate Cut (1)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the Federal Reserve ought to be open to a bigger, 50 basis-point cut in the benchmark interest rate next month, after having skipped a move at the last meeting.

“The real thing now to think about is should we get a 50 basis-point rate cut in September,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Tuesday. He highlighted how, two days after the Fed left rates unchanged July 30, revised data showed weaker job growth for May and June than official figures had previously indicated.

Scott Bessent

Photographer: Buddhika Weerashinghe/Bloomberg

The Fed “could have been cutting in June, ...