Richard Clarida, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that the economic outlook has improved this year and beyond, but it will take time to recover to the situation before the COVID-19 outbreak.

"while our interest rates and balance sheet tools provide strong support to the economy and will continue to do so as the economy recovers, it will take some time for economic activity and employment to return to the levels seen at the peak of the economic cycle in February last year," Clarida said in a prepared speech on Wednesday.

The surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases in winter and the worrying mutation of the virus also "pose downside risks to the near-term outlook", but the development of several effective vaccines and the passage of a fiscal rescue bill by Congress at the end of December are welcome news. it means that "the economic outlook for 2021 and beyond is brighter, and the downside risks to this outlook have diminished".

Clarida's cautiously optimistic comments, consistent with those made by chairman Jerome Powell in congressional testimony this week, suggest that the Fed is in no hurry to withdraw its stimulus measures.