Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the US economy urgently needs more relief from Congress as COVID-19 cases surge.
Democratic and Republican leaders are wrangling over details for stimulus legislation ahead of a Friday government funding deadline.
“The case for fiscal policy right now is very, very strong and I think that’s widely understood,” Powell said following a Federal Reserve meeting, the New York Times reports.
“Now that we can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel, it would be bad to see people losing their business, their life’s work, even generations’ worth of work.”
Powell said now was not the time for budget hawks to fret about the national debt.
“From my way of thinking the time to focus on that is when the economy is strong, unemployment is low and taxes are pouring in and there’s room to get on a sustainable path because the economy is doing well,” Powell said.
The remarks come as the pandemic worsens, despite the start of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine distribution this week.
The stock market remains at near all-time highs, but unemployment is expected to grow as state and local governments order businesses to close to prevent spread of the virus that’s infected nearly 17 million Americans and killed more than 300,000 since March.
Additional stimulus checks of between $500 and $1,200 are anticipated as part of stimulus legislation, in addition to boosted unemployment pay, more small business loans and funds for health care and other government response efforts.
