White House still sees inflation abating, can’t say exactly when

Meanwhile, former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, (pic) a Democratic-aligned economist who has criticised the current White House policies for potentially stoking inflation, met with top Biden economic advisers Brian Deese and Cecilia Rouse on Tuesday. His criticism has rankled White House officials, who have insisted the current spike in prices is temporary.

WASHINGTON: The White House expects supply chain pressures that are fuelling higher inflation to abate in the “not-too-distant future, ” but cannot say exactly when, a senior official has said after June consumer prices showed the biggest gain in 13 years.

The official declined to repeat earlier forecasts that inflation would peak in the summer months, citing continued uncertainty about when supply chain pressures would ease and concerns over the emergence of new Covid-19 variants.