The consumer price, a key measure of inflation, rose 0.4% in February, up 6% from February 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday. An economist connected this persistent inflation and the crisis surrounding Silicon Valley Bank to the Biden administration’s policies.

“Over the past week, we have witnessed more fallout from the federal government spending, borrowing, and printing trillions of excess dollars than over the previous several years. Not only did artificially low interest rates stoke inflation, but they also have facilitated a potential banking crisis,” EJ Antoni, a research fellow for regional economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, said in a statement after the report’s release.

“The government’s new bailout of irresponsible financial institutions is further complicating the Federal Reserve’s belated fight against inflation. We are witnessing in real time how misguided government intervention in the marketplace has side effects worse than the original disease. Instead of allowing that same marketplace to return to regular working order, the government continues applying ‘cures’ with harmful side effects,” Antoni said.