NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The underlying health of the US economy is fairly strong and massive investments in manufacturing and infrastructure will help lower inflation longer term, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Thursday.
Adeyemo told the Reuters NEXT conference that the price of petrol has fallen from the highs recorded over the summer, but overall prices are still too high and the government is doing everything in its power to ease the pressure on the supply chain.
Legislation such as the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Control Law and a Law to Stimulate Domestic Semiconductor Production would provide long-needed investments in the economy that would help control inflation, he said.
Investing in ports would help ease backups that drove up prices during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, while increasing broadband capacity would boost U.S. competitiveness and exports, Adeyemo said.
US Treasury Department Assistant Secretary Wally Adeyemo attends the Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event on December 1, 2022 in New York City, New York, United States. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
“Our goal is to really try and make sure that as we bring inflation down, we also make the investments to ensure the American economy is competitive, not just over the next year but for decades to come.”
Adeyemo said the US economy is better positioned than any other economy to thrive despite rising costs of capital and labor force participation is beginning to increase, albeit not at the desired pace.
He said supply chain challenges have eased and he hopes this will continue, although the US government is keeping abreast of developments in China, one of the world’s largest economies, which is still coping with COVID-19 due to its strict zero-COVID policy. struggling with lockdowns will be closely monitored.
“What gives me confidence is the fact that despite the headwinds we’ve had from COVID, despite the headwinds we’ve had from Russia’s illegitimate invasion of Ukraine, the US economy has maintained its strength despite some of the headwinds that are coming from places like China,” said Adeyemo.
To watch the Reuters NEXT conference live on December 1st, please click here.
Reporting by Daniel Burns; writing by Andrea Shaal; Editing by Andrea Ricci
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