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US Treasury's Bessent: Good chance of 50 basis point rate cut

In an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, United States (US) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that there is a good chance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could opt for a 50 basis point rate cut at the next meeting.

Key takeaways

"Think we could go into a series of rate cuts."

"A rate cut would signal an adjustment."

"Working on a big list of committee replacements, will be private sector names."

"Going to cast wide net, 10–11 people."

"No timeline for interviews."

"I don't think the Fed needs to get back into large scale asset purchase."

Market reaction

The US Dollar remains under bearish pressure following these comments. At the time of press, the USD Index was down 0.37% on the day at 97.68.

Author

Eren Sengezer

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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