President Biden put a number on Russian President Vladimir Putin's contribution to rising inflation in America, telling a crowd in North Carolina on Thursday that 70% of the increase in pricing last month resulted from "Putin's price hike."
Biden's remarks came during an event in Greensboro, North Carolina, hosted by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
"Putin's invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food prices all over the world," Biden said. "Ukraine and Russia are the one and two largest wheat producers in the world. We're three. They're shut down. We saw that in yesterday's inflation data."
"People don't know that 70% of the increase in inflation was the consequence of Putin's Price Hike because of the impact on oil prices. Seventy percent.
Without mentioning what measures his administration is taking to lower prices, Biden insisted that America must "address these high prices, and urgently, for working folks."
The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index – which measures a bevy of goods including gasoline, health care, groceries, and rents — rose 8.5% in March from a year ago, the fastest pace since December 1981, when inflation hit 8.9%. Prices jumped 1.2% in the one-month period from February, the most significant month-to-month jump since 2005.
Core prices, which exclude more volatile measurements of food and energy, climbed 6.5% in March from the previous year — up from the 6.4% increase recorded in February. It was the steepest 12-month increase since August 1982.
The latest inflation reading, which is the last before Fed officials meet on May 3-4, marks the 10th consecutive month the gauge has been above 5%. The Fed strives to keep inflation around 2%.
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Biden's remarks in North Carolina echoed statements he made last month from the White House, where he claimed he was "going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home in coordination with our partners." Source: Foxbuisness.
