by Ernest Hoffman
Kitco
(Kitco News) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attended a Foreign Bankers’ Association event in Amsterdam on Tuesday, which offered him the opportunity to comment on the U.S. economy in general, and inflation in particular, after PPI came in well above expectations in the morning.
While Powell pointed to the progress that was made on inflation in 2023, he acknowledged that this year has not continued the positive trend.
“The first quarter in the United States was notable for its lack of further progress on inflation,” he said. “We had higher readings in the first quarter, higher than we expected. We did not expect this to be a smooth road, but these were higher than anybody expected. What that has told us is that we will need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.”