The Finance Minister acknowledged that the current inflation is higher than usual but stressed that control over it is not lost.
According to the forecasts of Finance Minister Janet Yellen, the inflation rate in the United States will return to normal in the second half of 2022.
“When do you expect inflation to return to about 2 percent, which is considered normal?” the host of the program “The Situation in the country” on CNN Jake Tapper asked Yellen.
“I think it will happen next year,” the Finance Minister replied.
“Inflation will be high at the beginning of next year because of what has already happened, but I expect the situation to improve by the middle of next year, the second half of next year,” she added.
Yellen pointed to problems related to COVID-19 and supply as the reasons for the recent increase in inflation at the fastest pace in the last 30 years.
“The COVID crisis has led to a significant reduction in spending on services and a redistribution of spending in favor of goods,” Yellen explained. “The supply of goods to Americans has grown significantly, but there is still pressure here.”
Tapper recalled that former Treasury Secretary under President Barack Obama, Larry Summers, was critical of high inflation.
“I’ve been worried about it for a long time, and it’s even more disturbing now,” Summers said a week ago.
“I think he’s wrong. I don’t think we are losing control over inflation,” Yellen commented on Summers’ words.
“I certainly agree that we are going through a period of higher inflation than Americans have seen for a long time, and this, of course, causes them concern and anxiety, but we have not lost control,” she added.
Yellen also noted that monthly inflation figures are already “much lower than peak values.”
