Golden Finance reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent stated that he is not calling for the Federal Reserve to implement a series of rate cuts, but is merely pointing out that models indicate the 'neutral' interest rate will be about 1.5 percentage points lower than it is now. Bessent said, 'I did not tell the Federal Reserve what to do.' He was referring to statements made the previous day about the Federal Reserve 'being able to start a series of rate cuts.' Bessent stated on Thursday, 'What I am saying is that to reach the neutral rate, a reduction of about 150 basis points is needed. If you believe in the existence of a neutral rate, I think there is room for a series of rate cuts, but I am not calling for rate cuts, nor have I done so; I am just saying that the model estimates the neutral rate to be about 150 basis points lower than the current level.'