Bessent Says AI Financing Still Progressing; Fed Rate Hikes May Not Be Wrong Amid Strong Growth

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he and his team are closely monitoring the financing conditions of AI infrastructure buildout and played down recent signs of concern. "We monitor all of that," Bessent said in a media interview on Wednesday. When asked about yields on some AI-related debt starting to rise into double digits, he said, "I don't view it as a problem at all, because what we see is that neocloud providers are only a very small part of the entire ecosystem." When asked whether he would view any future Federal Reserve rate hike as a policy mistake, Bessent said, "Not necessarily." He cited strong economic growth and again called on policymakers to keep an "open mind" and consider that the impact of energy shocks on US inflation may only be "transitory."