Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during an interview on Sunday that there will be lower inflation by the end of 2023.
“I believe by the end of next year you will see much lower inflation, if there’s not an unanticipated shock,” Yellen told CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
According to CNN, she pointed to plunging gas prices as well as ease in supply-chain issues, like increased wait time and higher delivery cost, that emerged earlier during the pandemic.
“I hope that it will be short-lived,” Yellen said of the present high levels of inflation. “We learned a lot of lessons from the high inflation we experienced in the 1970s. And we’re all aware that it’s critically important that inflation be brought under control and not become endemic to our economy. And we’re making sure that won’t happen.”
Yellen said that although there is a risk of running into a recession, that isn’t necessary to bring inflation down, per The Hill.
There was substantial economic growth after the worst of the pandemic was over and now, that growth is slowing down, she explained.
“And businesses see that. Look, we had a very rapid recovery from the pandemic. Economic growth was very high. And there was a surge in hiring, put people back to work,” Yellen said.
“We got people back to work. We closed that gap. We have a healthy labor market. To bring down inflation and because almost everybody who wants a job has a job, growth has to slow.”