Inflation could hit 9% — and prices increases would have been 'partially avoidable' if the Fed had acted sooner, top economist says

According to El-Erian, US inflation may reach 9% and criticized the Federal Reserve for not acting sooner.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US inflation rose to a 41-year high of 8.6% in the year through May.

El-Erian told CBS's "Face the Nation" that he thinks people need to be very modest about what they know about inflation. I fear that we may get to 9% at this rate.

In April, price increases slowed for the first time in eight months, but El-Erian didn't think it was a good sign.

El-Erian is the President of Queens' College at Cambridge University. He was the leader of Pimco.

He said it would be tragic if we ended up in a recession due to inflation going to 10%.

El-Erian criticized the Fed for not responding to rising inflation earlier. He told CBS that it mischaracterized what inflation was.

He said that it was partly avoidable. This is going to have a lot of economic, social and political consequences. Had early actions been taken, most of it would not have happened.

El-Erian said he expects the rate to go up by 50 basis points. The Fed has raised rates a couple of times.

El-Erian told CNBC that the Fed should not stop raising interest rates until inflation is under control.

El-Erian didn't reply immediately to Insider's request for comment.

The Fed isn't the only one that El-Erian criticizes. The former Fed chair told CNBC that the central bank made a mistake when it delayed its response to inflation.

In a congressional hearing in March, Powell admitted that the Fed should have acted sooner.

Powell said that they should have moved sooner. It is taking more time for the supply side to heal than we thought.