Powell made the comments during an interview to air Sunday on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” In a preview of the interview Powell, released early on Sunday, gave a brighter economic outlook, contrary to previous comments on the economic recovery.
“What we are seeing now is really an economy that seems to be at a tipping point a lot,” Powell said during the “60 minutes” interview. “And that’s because of widespread vaccination and strong fiscal support, strong monetary policy support. We feel like we are in a place where the economy is about to grow much faster and job creation is coming in much faster.”
But that’s only if there’s no new wave of Covid-19.
“The main risk to our economy right now is really that the disease could spread again. It will be smart if people can keep socially distanced and wear masks,” he told “60 Minutes.”
According to data from the CDC, more than 183 million vaccines have been administered in the United States.
This comes after minutes released by the central bank last week underlined that it will be some time “before substantial further progress is made” on employment and inflation. The Fed cut interest rates to zero in March 2020 and said it expects to keep interest rates at historically low levels until 2023.
Last month, Powell said any hike in inflation during the summer months would be temporary and not a concern for her monetary policy at this point.