Freeland, Yellen say they are working together to combat soaring inflation

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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen say the two countries are working together to combat rising inflation by ensuring supply chains are more resilient.

The pair spoke about the turbulent global economy at a joint news conference in downtown Toronto on Monday afternoon, which marks Yellen’s first trip to Canada as secretary of the Treasury.

During the news conference, Freeland said the two countries are facing a consequential time for the global economy, which comes with a historic opportunity to ensure resiliency in supply chains that will prevent future shocks in the future.

At their meeting, Freeland and Yellen said they discussed how to keep costs down for families on both sides of the border amid soaring consumer prices, as well as how the countries can continue to stand united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At a speech on Friday, Freeland said the current volatile and uncertain economic time is largely driven by a challenging global environment. She called skyrocketing inflation a “global phenomenon” that is being driven by lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing lockdowns in China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Last month, Statistics Canada reported the inflation rate for April rose 6.8 per cent compared with a year ago. That’s the highest since January 1991 but is lower than Britain, Germany and the United States.

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