(Reuters) – Controlling U.S. inflation, which has hit a four-decade high in the United States, is the “most important” task facing the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) today, Governor Lael Brainard says in a statement. remarks prepared for a Thursday hearing before Congress.
First appointed to the U.S. central bank in 2014 by former Democratic President Barack Obama, Lael Brainard is due to speak before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday as part of the confirmation process for her nomination as Vice President of the Fed.
“We are seeing the strongest rebound in growth and the largest decline in unemployment ever recorded in a period of economic recovery in the last five decades,” she will tell parliamentarians, according to comments released in advance on Wednesday by the Fed.
“But inflation is too high, and workers across the country are concerned” about the burden of it on their wages. “Our monetary policy is centered on getting inflation back to 2%, while maintaining an inclusive economic rebound. This is our most important task.”
(Report by Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir; French version by Jean Terzian)
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