Janet Yellen: Inflation remains unacceptably high

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned that inflation in the United States is “unacceptably high” and said lowering prices would be Washington’s “top priority.”

Data released on Wednesday showed consumer inflation in the United States hit 9.1%, the highest level since 1981.

Yellen said the White House hopes to provide relief to American households squeezed by inflation with a reconciliation bill that could reduce prescription drug costs and release an unprecedented amount of oil from the nation’s emergency stockpile. She also noted the Biden team is working on placing a price cap on Russian oil to “avoid potential future spikes in oil prices. (1)

“First and foremost, we support the efforts of the Fed, which they deem necessary to bring inflation under control,” she told a news conference in Bali ahead of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting.

“Beyond that, we are taking our actions which we believe will be favorable in the short term to lower inflation-particularly what we are doing on energy prices and the strategic petroleum reserve,” she said

When asked whether she believed bringing down inflation is more important than the threat of recession, Yellen reiterated that it should be the White House’s top priority and noted the labor market is in “good shape.” (2)