IMF Chief Economist Gopinath: Inflation Will Continue Well Into 2022

By Newsmax
Posted on 10/25/21 | News Source: Newsmax

Some inflation had been expected after the deep recession in 2020, but with the frictions between supply and demand not matching up, inflation pressures will remain until some time in the middle of 2022, according to Gita Gopinath, the chief economist for the International Monetary Fund.

“We’ve had a rebound in global demand,” Gopinath said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We’ve seen commodity prices come back up after crashing last year, but we’re also now seeing the frictions between supply and demand not matching up. We’re seeing supply chain disruptions around the world because the fact is the grip of the pandemic remains, even though maybe it’s somewhat lighter.”

But more normal levels of inflation should return toward the end of 2022, Gopinath said, but she warned that costs are still going up, particularly with energy prices rising sharply, which will “feed into headline inflation.”

Meanwhile, the IMF has said that any change in the size of the spending bill proposed by President Joe Biden could have an impact on global growth, and even though the bill’s price tag has been cut during negotiations, the measure could still affect growth, Gopinath said.