WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Reserve warned on Wednesday of an “extended period” of weak financial growth, pledged to use the U.S. central bank’s power as required, and required extra financial spending to stem the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks to reporters after the Federal Reserve cut rates of interest in an emergency situation relocation developed to protect the world’s biggest economy from the effect of the coronavirus, in Washington, U.S., March 3,2020 REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Fed Chair Jerome Powell issued his sober review of an economy slammed by a record rate of task losses and bracing for worse ahead as most U.S. states moved toward resuming after weeks of shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the unique coronavirus.
The pandemic has eliminated more than 82,000 individuals in the United States up until now, and numerous epidemiological designs now point to a death toll that will exceed 100,000 in a matter of weeks.
Powell pointed to uncertainty over how well future outbreaks of the virus can be controlled and how quickly a vaccine or therapy can be established, and stated policymakers required to be prepared address “a variety” of possible results.
” It will spend some time to return to where we were,” Powell said in a webcast interview with Adam Posen, the director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “There is a sense, growing sense I believe, that the recovery might come more slowly than