Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh vowed to defeat inflation and "get monetary policy right."
Speaking to the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, Warsh said the central bank's "number one objective is to get monetary policy right, or as near to it as we possibly can."
"And if we get policy right, and we will, the inflation surge of the last five years will be a thing of the past," he added.
Warsh also acknowledged that inflation has been an "undue burden on American households and businesses," he said that members of the Federal Open Market Committee "have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation. And we share a resolute commitment to restoring price stability."
Right as Warsh was facing the committee, Inflation rose below expectations in June as energy prices eased. However, they have been climbing over the past days as tensions between the U.S. and Iran flare up again.
Concretely, consumer prices rose 3.5%, compared to analysts' expectations of 3.8%. CNBC noted that prices saw their biggest decline in more than six years as energy prices dropped.
The seasonably-adjusted consumer price index fell 0.4%, when analysts expected it to be 0.2%. Core inflation, which excludes more volatile components including energy, was flat on the month, the rate standing at 2.6%. Analysts expected it to rise 0.2% and for the rate to stand at 2.9%.
Despite the drop in the latest report, energy prices could go back to putting pressure on prices as tensions between the U.S. and Iran rise again. President Donald Trump said that the U.S. will collect revenue from protecting ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and is imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.
Speaking to Fox News' Fox and Friends, the president criticized Tehran, accusing it of breaking agreements between the countries to cease hostilities. "We had a deal. it was a done deal. and then they broke it. they always break it."
He went on to claim that the U.S. is going to "keep the strait" and "probably run it."
"We will become the guardian of the strait, and we should be reimbursed for that," Trump added, saying that the U.S. "we can't be expected to do that for nothing like we have for many years."
