Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said it is now appropriate for the central bank to reduce interest rates, as there had been “significant progress” toward the Fed’s dual goals of maintaining stable prices and maximum employment. “With the economy now in equipoise and inflation on a path to 2%, it is now appropriate to dial down the degree of restrictiveness in the stance of policy by reducing the target range for the federal funds rate,” Williams said Friday in a speech for an event held by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.