By Jonnelle Marte
(Reuters) – A combination of strong fiscal support and continued vaccine distributions could help lift the U.S. economy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic and lead to the strongest growth in decades, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said Thursday.
“With strong federal fiscal support and continued progress on vaccination, GDP growth this year could be the strongest we’ve seen in decades,” Williams said in remarks prepared for a virtual event organized by One Hundred Black Men of New York, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarship, mentoring and educational support for the African American community.
Still, the economy remains under threat from the pandemic, and new strains of the virus could slow the recovery or lead to more infections, Williams said, echoing remarks made by other Fed officials on Thursday.
The policymaker said the economic crisis caused by the virus has affected Black workers and business owners more severely than other groups. Further closing the disparities between Black and white workers will be important to helping the economy fully heal, he said.
Williams said the Fed will “remain committed to using our full range of tools to help assure that the recovery will be as robust as possible.”
(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
