Trump Fed candidate Moore believes central bank should lower rates: NYT

(Reuters) – Stephen Moore, US Federal Reserve Board of Governors candidate to President Donald Trump, said the US central bank should immediately lower interest rates by half a percentage point, according to an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday.

Moore, a conservative economic commentator and a member of the Heritage Foundation, told The Times that he was not a "sycophant for Trump" or a "dove" on monetary policy, a reference to Fed officials advocating an easier policy that supports economic growth.

Mr Moore told Bloomberg Friday that he was not sure exactly where interest rates should be calculated, but he strongly criticized the central bank's decision to raise rates in 2018.

Last year, in a radio interview, he had hinted that Trump was right to dismiss Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for "destroying our economy." "anger" from what he called the "substantial fault" of the Fed to raise rates in December.

The Fed raised its rates four times in 2018.

None of the Fed's current policymakers think that a rate cut is acceptable, let alone half a percentage point, which is twice the size of each of its recent rate hikes.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly on Tuesday answered a question that she would not support a rate cut. She said the rates are currently neutral and that she would need to see more data before pulling the trigger, whether it is a move up or down.