Yellen says she was ‘wrong’ about inflation path; Biden backs Fed – Reuters

Yellen says she was ‘wrong’ about inflation path; Biden backs Fed – Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that she was wrong in the past about the path inflation would take, but said taming price hikes is President Joe Biden's top priority and he supports the Federal Reserve's actions to achieve that.

Asked in a CNN interview whether she was wrong to downplay the threat that inflation posed in public statements over the past year, Yellen said: "I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take."

"As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that I didn't at the time fully understand," Yellen said, adding that the shocks range from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to recent COVID-19 lockdowns in China.