Richard Clarida, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on Friday that he preferred to start scaling back the central bank's monthly bond purchases later this year.

Mr Clarida said: "We did test to slow down purchases in December and we want to see significant further progress towards our goal, and I agree with Powell. I think we do meet this standard in terms of inflation. "

"We have made progress in the labour market. In July, we don't think significant progress has been made, but employment growth has averaged 800000 a month over the past three months, and I expect this momentum to continue in the autumn. " Clarida said.

"if this happens, I will support a reduction in the pace of bond purchases later this year," he said.