Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that inflation was “too high” and that bringing it down to an acceptable level was a “top priority” for the Federal Reserve, as data showed that US consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 5 per cent in June, the most since 1991.

The Fed chairman’s comments were made before the release of minutes from the Fed’s meeting in June, which carried a distinctly more hawkish tone than his testimony to Congress the previous day.