In the CBS’ 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “we feel like we’re at a place where the economy’s about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly”. He added that the growth in H2 is “going to be very strong”.

“There really are risks out there,” he added. “And the principal one just is that we will reopen too quickly, people will too quickly return to their old practices, and we’ll see another spike in cases.” But even in that case, any spike in cases wouldn’t be as disastrous as prior ones, thanks to vaccinations. The economy will still “move ahead more quickly to the extent we keep the spread of COVID under control.”

The time to for the administration to reduce the budget deficit is “when the economy is strong and we’re fully recovered and people are working and taxes are rolling in,” he said. “The time to do that is not now.”

Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said in a Bloomberg TV interview that there is a lot of “pent-demand” as well as “pent-up supply” in the economy. Both supply and demand will be in play as the year progresses. The “baseline expectation” is that most of the early rise in inflation this year will “revert by year-end”.

“If inflation at the end of the year has not declined from where it is at the middle of the year might be ‘good evidence’ of inflation that is not transitory,” he added.

Also, Clarida reiterated that “substantial progress is actual progress.” Fed will inform the public about the progresses “as we go through the year”. “We will have ample opportunities as data comes in to inform Fed observers on our progress”, he said.

San Francisco President Mary Daly she’s “bullish on the rebound” of the economy. Yet, “we have a long way to go before the job is complete.” She expects a small pick-up in inflation this year. But like many other Fed officials, she expected the pick-up to be transitory.

On monetary policy, she said, “we said substantial further progress, we have to see it, we don’t have to expect it, we have to see it”, before considering stimulus exit. For now, “you still see real pockets of weakness, real pockets of concern.”

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in an IMF event, ” there will be upward pressure on prices which may be passed along to consumers in the form of price increases”. But he added, “we think that that will be temporary.” He also noted that inflation has been low for more than two decades, and that fed into a psychology of low inflation expectations.

“If inflation were unexpectedly, counter to our expectations, to move meaningfully above levels where we are comfortable – and in particular inflation expectations… if we see them moving persistently and materially above levels we are comfortable with, then we would react to that,” he said.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said, “we are going to have to go months and months into the higher inflation experience before I’m going to even have an opinion on whether or not this is sustainable or not, and that’s going to be uncomfortable.”

“We really have to be patient and be willing to be bolder than most conservative central bankers would choose to be if we are going to actually get inflation expectations to move up in a sustainable fashion,” he added.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard told CNBC that “our monetary policy forward guidance is premised on outcomes not the outlook” Hence, “it is going to be some time before both employment and inflation have achieved the kinds of outcomes that are in that forward guidance.”

She acknowledged that the latest economic forecast is “considerably better outcomes both on growth as well as on employment and inflation.” But she reiterated, “that’s an outlook. We’re going to have to actually see that in the data. When you look at the data, we are still far from our maximum employment goal.”

Brainard also said it’s “really important to recognize” the rise in inflation is “transitory”. “And following those transitory pressures associated with reopening, it’s more likely that the entrenched dynamics that we’ve seen for well over a decade will take over.”

Minutes of March 16-17 FOMC meeting reiterated the assessment that it will take “some time” until “substantial further progress” is made towards Fed’s targets. The asset purchases will continue “at least at the current pace” until then. Also, if there would be any changes in the QE program, they would be communicated to the public “well in advance of time”.

“Participants noted that it would likely be some time until substantial further progress toward the Committee’s maximum-employment and price-stability goals would be realized and that, consistent with the Committee’s outcome-based guidance, asset purchases would continue at least at the current pace until then,” the minutes said.

Additionally, “a number of participants highlighted the importance of the Committee clearly communicating its assessment of progress toward its longer-run goals well in advance of the time when it could be judged substantial enough to warrant a change in the pace of asset purchases.”

“The timing of such communications would depend on the evolution of the economy and the pace of progress toward the Committee’s goals.”

Full minutes here.