Kashkari told the Wall Street Journal: "The balance of risks has shifted, so the debate about potentially cutting rates in September is an appropriate one to have."

He stated the Federal Reserve had made good progress on taming inflation but noted the labour market was showing "concerning signs".

Kashkari also stated that he did not see any reason to lower interest rates in increments of larger than a quarter percentage point due to layoffs remaining low and unemployment claims seemingly not suggesting a notable deterioration.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com