Bernanke: US economy needs Fed

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Incumbent (Fed) Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that United States economy still needed help from the Fed's low interest rate policies to enliven the economy. Bernanke, speaking at the National Bureau of Economic Research, said Fed's policies were still necessary because unemployment remained high and inflation was below the Fed's target. He also said the Fed, under his leadership, had made significant strides in providing the public with more information on how the central bank operated. At June 19 news conference, Bernanke had said the Fed would likely slow its bond purchases later this year and end them around mid-2014 if the economy continued to strengthen. Stocks and bonds had plunged in the days after his remarks.