US faces 'unacceptable levels of inflation': Yellen tells senators

US Treasury Secy said she saw bulk of inflation being caused by supply and demand mismatches, including excessive demand for goods over services during the pandemic and severe supply chain disruptions

The United States faces "unacceptable levels of inflation" and an appropriate budgetary stance is needed to help dampen inflationary pressures without undermining the economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators on Tuesday.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Yellen pushed back against Republican assertions that the highest inflation in 40 years was caused by Democratic President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID-19 spending legislation last year.

"We're seeing high inflation in almost all of the developed countries around the world. And they have very different fiscal policies," Yellen said. "So it can't be the case that the bulk