MNI BRIEF: Powell Says Fiscal Stimulus Not Likely Inflationary

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress Tuesday fiscal stimulus plans are not likely to generate inflation despite market worries.

"We've been living in a world through a quarter century where all of the pressures were disinflationary," Powell said. "Inflation dynamics do change but they don't change on a dime, so we don't really see how a burst of fiscal spending that doesn't last for many years would actually change those inflation dynamics."

"There perhaps once was a strong connection between budget deficits and inflation. There really hasn't been lately," he added.

An MNI interview with an ex-Treasury adviser published Tuesday concurred with the notion that ample slack in the economy should prevent inflation pressures from taking hold.