El Salvador’s president has been busy lately, most notably chastising the Federal Reserve after its chairman, Jerome Powell, revealed to Congress that it was time to phase out the term “transitory” when discussing US inflation.
El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele took to Twitter on Tuesday to wonder why the Federal Reserve can’t seem to break its quantitative easing obsession.
Inflation running high
Following the country’s introduction of bitcoin as a legitimate currency, Bukele has become one of crypto Twitter’s most renowned provocateurs.
“Could you please quit printing money?” You will just exacerbate the matter. Really. It’s a no-brainer,” Bukele stated.
“How far beyond your aim must inflation run before the Fed judges that it is not so transitory?” Senator Pat Toomey questioned Jerome Powell in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Nov. 30.
Powell has little space for maneuvering after being asked such a hard question.
“It’s perhaps time to retire that terminology and explain more clearly what we mean,” Powell answered, attempting to equivocate by claiming that inflation will not be short-lived in the sense that most people interpret the term.
Higher inflation, on the other hand, would leave no “lasting trace,” even if it lasted for a long time.
The semantics exercise revealed that when the Fed previously classified inflation as transitory, it was referring to a time span that was exactly less than forever.
Despite the fact that there is no evidence that the Fed intended to deceive, confusion was created.
El Salvador’s bitcoin holdings are increasing
While Bukele was taunting the Fed this week, he was profiting from the bitcoin drop the week before.
On Nov. 26, Bukele claimed, “El Salvador just bought the dip. I got 100 more coins at a bargain.”
With this new purchase, El Salvador now has 1,220 bitcoins in its possession. The country’s Bitcoin inventory is worth $71.5 million at current rates, but with inflation certain to continue weakening the dollar against BTC in the long run, the US may need to brace itself for a lot more of El Presidente’s mockery.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube