Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the potential of "persistently high inflation" has increased, and the Federal Reserve may consider reducing stimulus sooner.

Recently, Powell had been describing the surge in inflation caused by supply chain snarls and shortages of products and employees as "transitory", but he recently revealed to the Senate Banking Committee that it is time to "retire" the word.

Far beyond the Fed's two percent target, in the 12 months ending in October, the preferred price measure increased by 5 percent.

Read more: The US Is Running Out of Money, Literally (Part I)

Powell divulged to lawmakers that "clearly the risk of more persistent inflation has risen," assuring that the Federal reserve "will use our tools to make sure that higher inflation does not become entrenched."

The Federal Reserve has so far begun to withdraw stimulus measures enacted to protect the economy from the pandemic's impact; however, Powell has already stated that policymakers should be wary before raising lending rates, and that supply difficulty will be addressed in the near future.

Powell indicated that it would be desirable to accelerate the pace of the monthly asset purchase reduction.

As a result, the Fed would be able to raise the benchmark interest rate sooner.