Powell: U.S. entering second phase of economy reopening

Powell: U.S. entering second phase of economy reopening

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday testified before the Senate Banking Committee and said that the U.S. economy appears to be entering the second phase of reopening assuming the virus remains under control.

"Legislation that you passed, both the PPP and the unemployment insurance, and the checks that were sent out.

All of that is supporting demand and reopening," Powell said.

Congress has so far allocated nearly $3 trillion in financial relief, including direct payments to households and a forgivable loan scheme for small businesses, while the Fed has implemented numerous programs to pump trillions of dollars of credit into the economy.