He also told the Senate that he wanted to retire the word “transitory” to describe price increases, and he said inflation pressures will “linger well into next year.”

Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting stressed the need for flexibility on how quickly they will scale back their bond-buying program as well as the timing of interest-rate increases, before data showed inflation accelerating.

In order to complete the monthly cycle of two-, five- and seven-year notes before Thursday’s holiday, the Treasury Department is cramming them into Monday and Tuesday, which hasn’t gone well in the past.

Two progressive Democratic senators said they oppose the renomination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to a second term, joining Elizabeth Warren in urging President Biden to choose someone else.

A majority of the 49 economists in the survey predicted the U.S. central bank will begin the taper in November and wrap it up by mid-2022, curbing the current $120 billion monthly buying pace by reducing Treasuries by $10 billion a month and mortgage-backed securities by $5 billion.

Federal Reserve officials broadly agreed last month they should start reducing emergency pandemic support for the economy, minutes of the Sept. 21-22 Federal Open Market Committee meeting released Wednesday said.

“I myself believe that the ‘substantial further progress’ standard has more than been met with regard to our price-stability mandate and has all but been met with regard to our employment mandate,” Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said Tuesday.

Federal Reserve officials reinforced the U.S. central bank’s message that it would probably begin winding down its bond-buying program soon, though the economic recovery still had a way to go before interest rate increases would be appropriate.

If progress toward the Fed’s employment and inflation goals “continues broadly as expected, the committee judges that a moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted,” the U.S. central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve told a judge not to scrap Libor as requested by consumers in a lawsuit because it would pose a risk to financial stability and undermine years of global planning for a transition to a new benchmark for borrowing rates.

The industry had tightened up last year in the face of COVID-19. But as the economic outlook improves, banks are now easing criteria amid heightened competition, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of loan officers.

The timing of major upcoming shifts in Treasury supply and demand will be crucial in determining if the recent downward trend in yields continues or finally reverses.

Federal Reserve officials are moving closer to when they can start reducing massive support for the U.S. economy.

Consumer price spikes, which in June surged the most since 2008, will likely be a temporary feature of an economy that’s quickly recovering from the pandemic, said Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly.

The president has a chance to make his mark on the central bank as the terms of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles near their end. He will face pressure from progressives to pick reform-minded leaders, while moderate Democrats and Republicans in the narrowly divided Senate might favor reappointing Powell.

Officials responded to a more elevated outlook for prices by penciling in two interest-rate hikes for 2023, according to the median of their projections, while seven of 18 wanted to raise interest rates next year.

Federal Reserve officials who favor prioritizing mortgage-backed securities when they begin to scale back asset purchases have added Governor Christopher Waller to their ranks.

Edward Al-Hussainy, senior interest rate and currency analyst at Columbia Threadneedle, will discuss the economy, inflation and the Federal Reserve.

Corresponding Treasury yields seesawed over the past week, as some experts see “transitory” inflation persisting.

Signs from the Fed regarding tapering and interest rate hikes could spell the end to the year’s low rates.