Recession not inevitable, pain to last ‘some time’: Biden

Tokyo, May 23

President Joe Biden says he does not believe an economic recession in the US is inevitable despite record high inflation and supply shortages partly caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday in Tokyo, Biden acknowledged that the American economy has “problems,” but said it was better positioned than other countries.

“We have problems that the rest of the world has,” Biden said, “but less consequential than the rest of the world has”.

Biden acknowledged the impact that severe supply shortages and high energy prices are having on US families. He said his administration was working to ease the pain for US consumers, but said there were unlikely to be immediate solutions.

“This is going to be a haul,” Biden said. “This is going to take some time.”