Bessent: US should 'wait and see' before lowering interest rates

The Federal Reserve should “wait and see” before deciding whether to lower interest rates amid the war in Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday at Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC.

“Do I think rates should be lowered? Eventually. I think now that we have to wait and see,” Bessent told Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith. “But I think as we went into January [and] came out of January and February — the economy was very strong.”

US President Donald Trump has spent much of his second administration lobbying for the central bank to slash interest rates. For now, the Fed is “doing the right thing by sitting and watching” how the Iran conflict plays out, Bessent said.

Bessent said he’s confident recent price increases won’t permanently alter how consumers view the economy. The US government said Friday that inflation rose three times faster in March than it did in February amid surging oil and gas costs. Inflation excluding food and energy, however, rose slightly less than forecasters had anticipated.

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/bessent-us-wait-see-lowering-025502415.html

Trumpy ain't going to be too happy with you.