WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan stimulus package in March contributed to stronger demand but is only a small factor in current higher rates of inflation, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Yellen told the House Financial Services Committee that the stimulus package clearly boosted demand but said it was not a “fair assumption” to say it overshot the need and fueled current spikes in inflation.
“It’s certainly true that the American Rescue Plan put money in people’s pockets … and contributed to strong demand in the U.S. economy, but if you look at the amount of inflation that we have, and its causes, that is at most a small contributor,” she said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Ann Saphir, Lindsay Dunsmuir and David Lawder; Editing by Mark Porter)
