The US President Joe Biden on Friday blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the US rising inflation rate shortly after inflation data was released by the Labour department.
US inflation rate hit a new 40-year high in May 2022 as prices of gasoline, food and other necessities continue to soar. This is fastest growth in inflation since December 1981 in the country.
“Today I’d like to speak about my top economic priority, fighting inflation,” Biden said. “I understand Americans are anxious and they’re anxious.”
“We’ve never seen anything like Putin’s tax on both food and gas,” Biden said.
The president said America “can tackle inflation from a position of strength, unlike any other country in the world,” saying that every other country in the world “is getting a big bite and a piece of inflation—worse than we are, in the vast majority of countries around the world.”
“But make no mistake about it, I understand inflation is a real challenge for American families,” Biden said.
“Today’s inflation report confirm what America’s already know—Putin’s price hike is hitting America hard,” Biden said. “Gas prices at the pump, energy and food prices account for half of the monthly price increases since May.”
“I’m doing everything in my power to blunt Putin’s price hike and bring down the cost of gas and food,” Biden said, touting his administration’s move to coordinate the release of global oil reserves to “boost supply” and to “keep prices from rising even more.”
“My dad used to say it’s all about the standard of living, how much you have left in the paycheck at the end of the month, how much is left to do the basic things,” Biden said. “So if you add up all the things that people need just to do their—to do everything from take care of the kids, to turn the heat on, the air conditioning on and everything in between, there’s a lot of ways we can reduce their cost, their cost of living.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
