US Fed dissenter calls for measured pace of rate cuts [Video]

The sole holdout in the US Federal Reserve’s 11-to-1 vote cementing a larger interest rate cut said Friday that the move “could be interpreted as a premature declaration of victory.”

Earlier this week, Fed governor Michelle Bowman became the first voting member of the central bank’s rate-setting committee for more than two years to dissent from a rate decision, signaling at the time that she would have preferred a more modest cut of a quarter of a percentage-point.

Bowman said in a statement Friday that, given the progress made on inflation since last summer, she felt it was “appropriate to recalibrate the level of the federal funds rate and begin the process of moving toward a more neutral policy stance.”

“In my view, however, a smaller first move in this process would have been a preferable action,” she added.

A smaller cut would have been a more conventional step, while …