'Fed done or close to being done,' says former US treasury chief

DOHA, Qatar

The US Federal Reserve is either "done or close to being done," the former US treasury chief said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Steven Mnuchin said the Fed was slow to raise rates and it will be slow to lower rates.

"The uncertainty is how long does it take at this point to slow down the economy," he asserted.

It is early for lower rates until inflation is taken under control, Mnuchin said, adding that the inflation target of 2% is unnecessary but the Fed has to get closer to the target.

"And my own opinion is that the markets are predicting too soon as Fed easing, so I think the unpredictability is how long does it take?" he added.

About the recent banking crisis in the US, Mnuchin said: "Having seen the industry from both perspectives, what appears the US bank failures were no reserve model."

There is no question the US bank failures were a result of first management failures and second regulator failures, he argued.

Although there were liquidity issues and that is always what drives banks, in this case, the system has a very big mismatch between assets and liabilities, Mnuchin said.