"I think that the larger forces are still operating against the resumption of inflation," Clinton told CNBC. "So far, I feel pretty good about where we are on inflation."

Asked whether he shared the bond market's growing concern about inflation in light of data showing strong U.S. retail sales and rising consumer prices, Clinton said: "I think the evidence is mixed."

Increases in productivity and a lack of strong upward pressure on wages should help counteract any inflationary pressure generated by retail sales, he said.

"There's still been remarkable increases in productivity... the government is trying to get out of the debt market and make it more liquid; wages still aren't going up in any unreasonable amount; productivity driven by technology is going up a lot; and we're still trying to keep our markets very open," he said.

Clinton acknowledged that there could be upticks in certain prices, such as last year's rise in oil prices, or that prices could rise due to bottlenecks in production. He said, however, that he felt fairly confident that inflation would remain under control.