There will be “enormous” economic repercussions in the United States from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the near future, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday.
Details: Yellen told the House Financial Services Committee that Russia’s invasion will impact global trade and the flow of food and energy.
- The repercussions will begin as the U.S. and European sanctions on Russia take shape, according to Fox Business.
- She said the ban on Russian oil imports will send energy prices skyrocketing, per Reuters.
What she said: “Russia’s actions represent an unacceptable affront to the rules-based, global order, and will have enormous economic repercussions in Ukraine and beyond,” Yellen said to the House Financial Services Committee, per Fox Business.
- “We think it’s a price that’s important to pay to punish Russia for what it’s doing in Ukraine,” she added.
The bigger picture: It’s not all about Russian oil and energy.
- Russia and Ukraine account for about one-third of the world’s wheat exports, per CNN.
- The sanctions will impact nickel, titanium, wheat and more.
What she said: “Russia’s invasion disrupted the flow of food for millions of people around the world and caused prices to spike,” Yellen told the committee, per CNN.
- “But energy prices are going up, the price of wheat and corn that Russia and Ukraine produce are going up and metals that play an important industrial role — nickel, titanium, palladium — the cost of those things are going up,” she added.
- “This is going to escalate inflationary pressures as well.”