WASHINGTON – The impact of the conflict in Ukraine on the US economy is “highly uncertain” and the central bank will need to adjust quickly to ensure the recovery continues, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

With prices rising at their fastest pace in four decades and oil soaring above $100 a barrel, the Fed chief repeated that policymakers are ready to raise interest rates to tamp down inflation.

But “the economy evolves in unexpected ways,” he said, and “we will need to be nimble in responding.”