Fed's Bullard hopes for more trade deals like NAFTA 2.0 to reduce uncertainty

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, - More trade deals like the recently concluded agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, would help reduce uncertainty related to trade and economic growth, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said on Thursday.

The pact, called North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 2.0, struck earlier this month, has yet to be ratified.

"This is very good news, because it shows that despite the ups and down of negotiations, you can reach a conclusion ...on trade relations," Bullard told a panel at the International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Indonesia.

"I hope we can get deals like this elsewhere and we might get the uncertainty down on this issue," he said.

The IMF has pointed to global trade tensions as one of the main reasons undermining global growth prospects.