Washington, Mar 20 (IANS): The economic situation in the US is much improved since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but the recovery is "far from complete", Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said.

In an article published on The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Powell said the pandemic inflicted a cruel and uneven toll on lives and livelihoods, and the unprecedented crisis required an all-in government response, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Congress provided its largest economic recovery package of the post-war era. At the Fed, we used all the tools at our disposal to prevent a financial meltdown and ensure that credit could continue to flow to households and businesses," he said.

Noting that the recovery is far from complete, the Fed chief said the central bank will continue to provide the economy with the support that it needs "for as long as it takes".

The Fed on Wednesday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record-low level of near zero, as inflation debate heats up, driven by vaccination progress and the latest relief package.

Looking ahead, Fed officials expect the US economy to grow by 6.5 per cent this year, better than the previous projection of 4.2 per cent last December, according to the Fed's latest economic projections.

"So it comes down to what's your projection for the economy? If you want people will have a range of assessments for how good the economy is going to be, and we don't, I would say that we are in a relatively highly uncertain situation," said the Fed chair.