US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says the central bank stands ready to pump more money into the economy if growth is not quick enough.
'If output is too low and unemployment is too high, then that would be a situation that requires more stimulus,' Bernanke told a rare press conference in Washington. He added that the US economic recovery still needed help from the Fed despite signs of improvement.
The Fed chairman provided a modestly more rosy outlook for the world's largest economy than he has done in previous speeches, citing gains in household spending, improved confidence, and stepped up bank lending as signs 2011 may bring stronger growth than 2010.
'Although economic growth will probably increase this year, we expect the unemployment rate to remain stubbornly above, and inflation to remain stubbornly below, the levels that Federal Reserve policymakers have judged to be consistent over the longer term with our mandate,' he told the National Press Club in Washington DC.
