Powell says inflation risks rising, but Fed can be ‘patient’

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the tangled supply chains and shortages that have bedeviled the U.S. economy since this summer have gotten worse and will likely keep inflation elevated well into next year. But he says the Fed is not yet prepared to lift its benchmark interest rate. Powell has previously said that shortages and higher prices are mostly a result of the pandemic’s impact on supply lines, with factories in Asia temporarily closing amid COVID infections and dozens of cargo ships anchored offshore. The Fed chair spoke at a virtual conference Friday hosted by the South African Reserve Bank.