U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent waits for the first meeting of President Donald Trump’s Fraud Task Force convened by Vice President J.D. Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, DC, on March 27, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary George Bessent has reversed his previous stance on monetary policy, saying the Fed may wait to cut interest rates amid soaring oil prices.
“Do I think interest rates should be lowered? Ultimately. I think we have to wait and see for now,” Bessent told Semaphore Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith at the Semaphore World Economic Conference in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Bessent has said in the past that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell should move quickly to cut rates, saying in January that rate cuts are “the only thing missing from stronger economic growth, which is why the Fed shouldn’t delay.”
But this change in thinking comes as the war in Iran continues and oil prices have soared to more than $100 per barrel.
This complicates the Fed’s mission, as it is also looking at rising inflation to go along with slowing growth. The central bank was previously expected to keep interest rates unchanged this year, making a rate hike the least likely, according to federal funds futures pricing.
“The economy was very strong in January and February,” Bessent told Semaphore.
Powell’s term as chairman ends in May, but he may have to serve even longer if Trump’s nominee for chairman, Kevin Warsh, whom Bessent helped select, is not confirmed by the Senate by then. Sen. Thom Tillis has vowed to block Mr. Warsh from voting until U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro concludes her criminal investigation into Mr. Powell related to the Fed’s construction cost overruns. Powell said the investigation was aimed at putting pressure on the Trump administration not to cut rates further.
Read the full text of Semafor here.
—CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
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