Friday, Jan. 18, 2008 WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Federal Reserve on Thursday threw his weight behind proposals for near-term actions to stimulate economic growth to ward off an election-year recession, but warned such a plan could do more harm than good unless put together quickly.
Fed chief Ben Bernanke told the House Budget Committee that the U.S. central bank was not forecasting recession, but he repeated it was ready to act aggressively to prop up growth. He said a fiscal package could be effective if used in concert with interest-rate cuts.
Bernanke's comments, which lent impetus to efforts on Capitol Hill to assemble a package of stimulus steps, also reinforced a view in financial markets that a half-percentage point rate reduction will come at the end of the month.
"Fiscal action could be helpful in principle, as fiscal and monetary stimulus together may provide broader support for the economy than monetary actions alone," Bernanke said.
Other Fed officials, speaking at other locations, said they were worried enough about the economy to back further cuts in interest rates. The central bank has already lowered benchmark rates by 1 percentage point to 4.25 percent since mid-September.
Story Continues Below
http://moneynews.newsmax.com/money/archives/articles/2008/1/17/152833.cfm
No comments:
Post a Comment