(Reuters) -Christopher Waller, governor of the Federal Reserve (Fed), urged Thursday to reduce borrowing costs in the United States in the short term, saying that he is favorable to reduce interest rates in September and carry out additional decreases within three to six months in order to avoid falling the labor market.

He had already spoken out in favor of a drop in rates at the meeting of the American central bank in July, marking a break with his peers from the Fed monetary policy committee – for the first time in more than three decades, Christopher Waller as well as Michelle Bowman voted against a decision of the institution.

“Based on what I know at present, I have a decrease of 25 base points” at the next meeting of the American central bank, on September 16-17, he said in front of the Miami economic club, according to comments prepared upstream.

Noting the signs of a weakening of the labor market, Christopher Waller said he was concerned that “the conditions deteriorate more and quickly”, adding that it would be appropriate that the Fed monetary policy committee “does not wait” that such deterioration occurs and avoids the risk of “missing the turn” in its monetary policy.

If he estimated that a drop in rates of extraordinary magnitude was not necessary in September, the governor of the American central bank said however that his opinion could evolve if the monthly report of the Labor department came to show a weakening of the economy and inflation under control.

In any case, Christopher Waller stressed that “the time has come to soften monetary policy and bring it back to a more neutral position”, according to him, in a range of 1.25% -1.50% against 4.25% -4.50% currently.

Projecting itself beyond September, he said “anticipate additional rate reductions in the next three to six months”, whose pace, he added, will be guided by economic data.

Christopher Waller was appointed to the Council of Governors of the Fed by Donald Trump and is considered one of the potential successors of Jerome Powell, regularly taken to task by the American president, who criticizes the boss of the Fed for not reducing interest rates.

Donald Trump announced this week that he dismissed Lisa Cook from his functions as a governor of the Fed, a decision considered as a way for the head of the White House to intensify his efforts intended to have a greater influence on the American Central Bank.

(Written by Ann Saphir; Jean Terzian)

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