Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday said "the time has come" for the U.S. central bank to begin a series of interest rate cuts this month, adding that he is open-minded about the size and pace of those reductions.

Update at 11:29 AM ET: Asked about what the Fed should have done in hindsight regarding its policy in 2020-2021, Waller said, "We probably should have had a little more flexibility or escape clauses" in the Fed's December 2020 forward guidance that it would keep its policy rate at around zero until it reached its dual mandate.

The move signals the end of the Federal Reserve's battle against runaway inflation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fed officials expressed divergent views on further action this year.