The dollar clawed back from earlier losses on Monday as a hawkish Federal Reserve official laid out the case for further rate hikes, while the Australian dollar sank on concerns about unrest over COVID restrictions in China.

The greenback rebounded in early U.S. trading and added to gains after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the U.S. central bank needs to raise interest rates quite a bit further and then hold them there throughout next year and into 2024 to gain control of inflation and bring it back down toward the Fed’s 2% goal.

Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday will be watched for any new signals on further tightening with key U.S. jobs data for November also due on Friday. The U.S. central bank is expected to hike rates by an additional 50 basis points when it meets on Dec. 13-14.

The dollar index has fallen to 106.67 from a 20-year high of 114.78 on Sept. 28 on expectations that its rally may have been overstretched and as the Fed looks to slow its pace of rate increases.