Miran says half-point cut ‘appropriate’ for December, but Fed should at least reduce by a quarter point

Federal Reserve Governor Stephan Miran on Monday advocated for further interest rate cuts as a way stave off a potential economic softening ahead.

In a CNBC interview, the central bank official held to his belief that the Fed should be moving at an even more rapid pace than its traditional quarter percentage point reductions.

He advocated, as he has at the previous two Federal Open Market Committee meetings, for a 50 basis point, or half percentage point, reduction, though he said there at least should be a quarter-point easing.

“Nothing is certain. We could get data that would make me change my mind between now and then,” Miran said. “But failing new information that’s made me update my forecasts, looking out in time, yeah, I would think that 50 is appropriate, as I have in the past, but at a minimum 25.”

Despite Miran’s urging for bigger moves, the FOMC in both September and October opted for quarter-point cuts. Miran voted against both those moves but was not joined by any of his colleagues. Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid voted “no” in October, but only because he wanted to no cuts.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.