Despite high inflation, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is confident about the economy. "I'm optimistic about the recovery in the US," she said on Friday at the "Davos Agenda" digital forum. With the recently adopted infrastructure package and planned social and climate reforms, important projects for long-term sustainable growth have been launched. The labor market is exceptionally strong. But inflation is a "justifiable concern". It is far higher than one would normally expect with an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent.
At the same time, Yellen pointed out that experts assume that the price pressure will ease significantly over time.
Yellen, who headed the Fed until early 2018, said this is also fueled by the expectation that the central bank will take the circumstances into account when fulfilling its mandate.
Material shortages resulting from the Corona crisis and high energy costs have been driving inflation for a long time.
Alarmed by inflation, which has recently risen to 7.0 percent, several US monetary authorities have spoken out in favor of a series of interest rate hikes in the current year.
The financial markets expect up to four steps upwards from March.