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Bullard: Loose central banks, big deficits could produce inflation – Metro US

Bullard: Loose central banks, big deficits could produce inflation

FILE PHOTO: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks about
FILE PHOTO: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks about the U.S. economy during an interview in New York

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The combination of loose credit encouraged by central banks, big government deficits, and supply bottlenecks sparked by the pandemic, could push inflation higher than many expect, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said on Friday.

Though the inflation outlook in the U.S. remains weak, “we are at a moment where you may see some inflation,” Bullard said in Web cast remarks. “You have more relaxed central banks…Huge fiscal deficits which historically have been a catalyst for inflation, and you have possible bottlenecks” in global supply chains because of virus-related shut downs.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider)