WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Jr. said today that he still thinks inflation will subside and doesn't anticipate any rise interest rates in the near term.
During a speech at a Federal Reserve conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., he said that the “recent decline in commodity prices, as well as the increased stability of the dollar, has been encouraging. If not reversed, these developments, together with a pace of growth that is likely to fall short of potential for a time, should lead inflation to moderate later this year and next year.”
However, he added that the outlook remains somewhat uncertain because of the difficulty in predicting commodity prices and as a result the Federal Open Market Committee “will act as necessary” to attain the objective of medium-term price stability.
The most recent consumer price index showed a rate of 5.6%, the highest in 17 years.
He added while there have been some economic improvements “the financial storm that reached gale force” before last year's session of the same conference has not yet subsided.
Bernanke said that while the Federal Reserve is concerned about the near-term economic picture, it will also continue to work on ways to improve the nation's long-term economic health by “increasing the system-wide focus of financial regulation and supervision.”
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