Miran says a half-point interest rate cut for December is "appropriate

In an interview with, the central bank official maintained his belief that the Fed should move faster than its traditional quarter-percentage point interest rate cut.

He advocated a 50 basis point cut, or half a percentage point, as he had done at the previous two Federal Open Market Committee meetings, although he said an easing of at least a quarter point should be considered.

Miran said, "Nothing is certain. Maybe between now and then we'll get some data that makes me change my mind. But if no new information emerges that prompts me to update my forecasts in time, then yes, I think 50 is reasonable, as I have done before, but the minimum should be 25."

Despite Miran's push for larger measures, the FOMC opted to cut interest rates by a quarter point in both September and October. Miran voted against both measures, but none of his colleagues joined him. Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmidt voted "no" in October, but only because he didn't want any cuts.

Although only two votes were cast against interest rate cuts in October, public statements from several officials indicate wide differences among officials.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell addressed these disagreements in his recent press conference, indicating that another interest rate cut in December is not a foregone conclusion. Some policymakers have expressed hesitation, but data shows that inflation remains well above the Fed's 2% target, while others who favor rate cuts fear further deterioration in the labor market.

Meeran said that not continuing to lower interest rates would be shortsighted.

"If you're preparing data for something, if you're making policies based on current data, you're looking backward, because it will take 12 to 18 months for the impact on the economy to be visible. So you have to make policies now, based on where you think the economy will be in a year or a year and a half."

Policymakers have faced difficulties due to the lack of official economic data during the government lockdown. Meeran said available data shows softening in both inflation and the labor market, which should lead the Fed to adopt a more dovish stance, at least incrementally, than its collective forecast in September, which indicated a total of three interest rate cuts this year.

According to CME Group's FedWatch, markets are assuming a roughly 63% chance of a third interest rate cut in December, although this probability has been gradually decreasing since the October Fed meeting.