Jerome Powell (Federal Reserve Chairman) warned Thursday that while inflation can cause some economic pain, it is still his number one priority.

Powell claimed that Powell couldn’t guarantee a “soft landing” for the economy because the Fed raised interest rates in an effort to limit price growth, which is at its fastest rate for more than 40-years.

So a soft landing means that we can get back to 2% inflation, while still maintaining a strong labor market. It’s very difficult to achieve that right now for two reasons,” said the chief of central banks. an interview with Marketplace.

It will be difficult to avoid a recession due to a tight labor force pushing up wages.

So it’s going to be hard, and it won’t be easy. “No one thinks it will be easy,” said he. “Nevertheless, we believe that there are ways for us to get there.

These remarks were made public the day after the Senate unanimously confirmed Powell to a second term. This was nearly seven months since President Joe Biden had submitted his nomination.

His second-term priority will be price inflation control. In April, the annual rate was 8.3%. This is just below the 40-year-high of March.

After a quarter point hike in March, the Fed approved last week a half-point interest rate rise. Markets predict that the Federal Open Market Committee will hike half-point again in June, and continue to increase benchmark rates throughout the year.

Powell stated that while he is aware of the potential pain from higher rates, he believes the Fed should act swiftly.

He stated that the goal was to bring inflation down to 2 percent without causing a recession. However, the labour market must remain strong. That’s the goal we are trying to accomplish. The only thing that we can do, I believe, is not to bring back price stability. The economy isn’t able to function without price stability.

Powell was criticized for his delay in raising rates, and for halting the Fed’s bond-buying programme despite inflation rising. At his news conference after the meeting, Powell made comments that could be interpreted as indicating that he was taking aggressive measures, such as a 75-basis point increase.

In the Marketplace interview, he stated that he wasn’t sure what difference it would make to move faster, but that “we did our best.”

Powell said, “Now that we have a clear picture of the situation and are determined to make it work for us to return to price stability,”