U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference to launch the official Trump Account website at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, on December 17, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday emphasized his administration’s desire to lower interest rates, saying they are key to future economic growth.
In a speech he plans to give at the Economic Club of Minnesota, Bessent supports President Donald Trump’s economic policies and said easy monetary policy will help pave the way for future gains.
“Lowering rates will have a measurable impact on the lives of all Minnesotans,” he said, according to excerpts obtained from administration officials. “This is the only ingredient missing from stronger economic growth. That’s why the Fed shouldn’t delay.”
The Fed approved three consecutive rate cuts totaling 0.75 percentage points in the final four months of 2025, bringing the central bank’s key interest rate to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
But the pace of rate cuts is expected to slow significantly this year, with markets pricing in just two cuts and Fed officials’ latest forecast calling for just one.
One wild card in that equation is that the Fed gets a new chair this year, a process Mr. Bessent is overseeing. Current Chairman Jerome Powell’s term ends in May, and the Treasury Secretary has narrowed the field to five candidates. National Economic Council Leader Kevin Hassett and former Federal Reserve President Kevin Warsh are the two leading candidates for the position.
While lower interest rates threaten to reignite inflation, they could also support a slowing labor market.
“In 2025, the president laid the foundation for strong economic growth with historic passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, a trade deal that rewrote decades of global misalignment, and ambitious deregulatory policies that empower American entrepreneurs and businesses,” Bessent said. “Now in 2026, we will be reaping the benefits of President Trump’s America First policy.”
Bessent will speak at 12:45 p.m. ET.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct that Kevin Hassett is the leader of the National Economic Council.
