Powell signals Federal Reserve bond-buying program could end sooner as inflation persists.

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, signaled that the central bank could speed up its plan to withdraw economic support as soon as its meeting in December as it grows more wary of high — and stubborn — inflation.

The Fed had been buying $120 billion in government-backed securities each month for much of the pandemic, but in November officials announced plans to slow those purchases by $15 billion per month. That would have ended the program midway through 2022. But the Fed chair signaled Tuesday that the process could speed up.

“At this point, the economy is very strong, and inflationary pressures are high,” Mr. Powell said during a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. “It is therefore appropriate in my view to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases, which we actually announced at our November meeting, perhaps a few months sooner.”

Mr. Powell said that the Fed will discuss slowing bond purchase faster “at our upcoming meeting in a couple of weeks” — stressing that between now and then, the Fed will get a better sense of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, a fresh labor market report and a new reading on consumer price inflation.

The economy has boomed back this year, and hot demand has collided with choked supply chains to push inflation sharply higher. The central bank has been working toward removing its economic help as price gains remain stubbornly high, reorienting its policy so that it can raise rates next year if that is necessary to keep rising costs in check as inflation proves more stubborn than officials had hoped.

“Generally, the higher prices we’re seeing are related to the supply and demand imbalances that can be traced directly back to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy, but it’s also the case that price increases have spread much more broadly in the recent few months,” Mr. Powell said Tuesday. “I think the risk of higher inflation has increased.”

If the new variant continues to roil supply chains even as it keeps workers at home and prevents a full labor market recovery, it could put the Fed in a tough spot. Central bank policymakers are supposed to foster both full employment and keep prices stable.

The Fed next meets on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15.