US Treasury's Bessent says Rieder not yet interviewed for top Fed job, decision likely this month

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 8 (Reuters) -

BlackRock's chief bond investment manager, Rick Rieder, has not been interviewed yet by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Federal Reserve top job, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday, ?adding that he expects the nominee to be announced later this month. Rieder is among ?four finalists under consideration for the job to succeed Fed ?Chair Jerome Powell, whose term as head of ?the U.S. central bank ?expires in May. The other finalists include White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, ?Fed Governor Christopher Waller and former Fed ?Governor Kevin Warsh. The other three have been interviewed by Trump. Bessent, speaking to the Economic Club of ?Minnesota, noted that Rieder was the ?only candidate ?with no previous Fed experience. Asked if that was an advantage, he said, "Well, the president will decide."

The Treasury chief said ?he expected Trump to make a decision soon, perhaps right before the president heads to the World Economic Forum, which is taking place in Davos, Switzerland from January 19-23, or right afterwards.

Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are among ?the ?top administration officials due to join Trump at the annual gathering that attracts leading policymakers.

Trump told the New York Times ?in an interview published on Thursday that he had made up his mind on who he would nominate to lead the Federal Reserve, but stopped short of disclosing his pick.

"I have in my mind a decision," he said during the interview on Wednesday night. "I haven't talked about it ?with anybody."

Asked about Hassett, his top economic adviser, Trump said, "I don't want to say," but described him as "certainly one of the people that I like." (Reporting by David ?Lawder in Minneapolis and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Paul Simao)