At a news conference yesterday, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout is "the biggest shock to the U.S. economy in living memory," NBC News reports.
However, Powell insisted that "Fiscal policy is up to Congress," declining to get involved in the current battle over the nature of the relief package being negotiated between the parties.
"Pandemic Unemployment Assistance," granted to millions of unemployed Americans, is due to expire in a few days, lending greater urgency to the debate.
Commenting on the crisis, Federal Reserve officials noted that, "The coronavirus outbreak is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world. Following sharp declines, economic activity and employment have picked up somewhat in recent months but remain well below their levels at the beginning of the year."