MNI BRIEF: Fed's Powell Sees Low Risk of Inflation

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday he is not worried about the risk of near-term U.S. inflation given the recent history of weak price growth as well as the disinflationary effects of the pandemic.

"The bigger picture still is that we've seen three decades of lower and more stable inflation. And we've seen the last decade characterized by global disinflationary forces," Powell said.

"In addition, the pandemic itself has produced lower inflation readings," he said. "As we look forward, we'll probably see an increase in readings but that's really not going to mean very much. It's not going to be very large or persistent in all likelihood."