华盛顿——财政部长珍妮特·耶伦表示，经济复苏将会“崎岖不平”，高通胀数据可能会持续到今年年底。

但耶伦坚持认为，通胀压力将是暂时的，如果它们真的有嵌入经济的威胁，政府有工具来应对这一威胁。

周四，耶伦在众议院拨款委员会作证时，被问及上周报道的价格大幅上涨，显示消费者价格指数在过去一年上涨4.2%，为2008年以来最大的12个月涨幅。

耶伦表示，4月份价格上涨是与经济开放相关的一些特殊因素的结果。她像过去一样表示，价格上涨将是暂时的，但她表示，这不仅仅是一次性的上涨。

耶伦对议员们表示:“然而，我预计这种情况还会持续几个月，到今年年底，年通胀率还会很高。”。

“随着经济重回正轨，这将是一个坎坷的过程，”耶伦说。

耶伦说，4月份的高通胀率部分反映了机票、酒店客房和娱乐价格的大幅上涨，这些领域的价格在2020年3月疫情袭击美国后都大幅下跌。

此外，耶伦表示，计算机芯片和汽车生产等关键领域的供应链短缺正在推高价格，在大流行期间，这些领域的工厂暂时关闭。

“我们的经济受到了非常严重和不寻常的冲击。它导致了消费模式的巨大转变，”她说。

耶伦说，她在20世纪70年代开始学习经济学，并开始了她的职业生涯，这是该国最后一个高通胀时期。

“我记得那个可怕的时期是什么样子的。没有人想看到这种情况再次发生，”她说。“我们显然必须密切关注当前形势。”

耶伦就财政部明年的预算要求作证。拜登政府将于周五公布其2022年全部预算请求。

政府的预算要求大幅增加财政部下属机构国内税收署的资金。耶伦表示，需要增加资金来推动国税局缩小税收缺口的努力。她表示，未来十年，逃税金额可能达到7万亿美元。

耶伦说:“该国许多最富有的纳税人没有缴纳全部税款，国税局几乎没有足够的人员来确保合规。”

她说，目前国税局的审计人员比二战以来的任何时候都少。

Yellen says economic recovery likely to be 'bumpy'

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that the economic recovery is going to be “bumpy” with high inflation readings likely to last through the end of this year.

But Yellen insisted that the inflation pressures will be temporary and if they do threaten to become embedded in the economy, the government has the tools to address that threat.

In testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee Thursday, Yellen was asked about a big jump in prices reported last week, which showed consumer price index rising by 4.2% over the past year, the largest 12-month gain since 2008.

Yellen said that the April price increase was the result of a number of special factors related to the economy opening back up. She said as she has in the past that the price jump would be temporary but she indicated it would be more than a one-time gain.

“I expect it to last, however, for several more months and to see high annual rates of inflation through the end of this year,” Yellen told lawmakers.

“As the economy gets back on line, it is going to be a bumpy process,” Yellen said.

The high April inflation reading, Yellen said, reflected in part big gains in the pries of airline tickets, hotel rooms and recreation, all areas where prices had fallen dramatically after the pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020.

In addition, Yellen said prices were being driven higher by supply chain shortages in such critical areas as computer chips and auto production, where there were temporary factory shutdowns during the pandemic.

“We have an economy that was struck by a very severe and unusual shock. It caused very substantial shifts in spending patterns,” she said.

Yellen said that she started studying economics and began her professional career during the 1970s, the last period of high inflation in this country.

“I remember what that terrible period was like. No one wants to see that happen again,” she said. “We obviously have to watch the current situation very closely.”

Yellen was testifying on the Treasury Department’s budget request for next year. The Biden administration will release its full 2022 budget request Friday.

The administration’s budget calls for a significant boost in funding for the Internal Revenue Service, an agency under the Treasury Department. Yellen said the increased funding was needed to boost IRS efforts to narrow the tax gap, the amount of payments that are being evaded which she said could total $7 trillion over the next decade.

“Many of the country’s wealthiest taxpayers do not pay their full tax bill and the IRS is not nearly staffed up enough to ensure compliance,” Yellen said.

She said that currently the IRS has fewer auditors than at any time since World War II.