Strong case for 50 basis point Fed cut, says former NY Fed chief Dudley By Reuters

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Former New York Federal Reserve President Bill Dudley said there was a strong case for a 50 basis point interest rate cut in the United States.

“I think there’s a strong case for 50, whether they do it or not,” he said at the Bretton Woods Committee’s annual Future of Finance Forum in Singapore.

He said rates are currently 150-200 basis points above the so-called neutral rate for the US economy, where policy is neither restrictive nor accommodative. “So the question is, ‘Why don’t you start?’

Dudley previously called for the Fed to start cutting in July. US yields fell in Asian trade on Friday, while futures rose in reaction to media reports that next week’s decision to cut by 25 bps or 50 bps was a close call.