Obama reappoints Bernanke as Fed chief (Roundup)

Aug 25, 2009, 14:17 GMT

Washington/Martha's Vineyard - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday reappointed Ben Bernanke to a second term as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, choosing to go with stability in a time of economic crisis.

Obama made the announcement on the vacation island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where the president and his family are currently on holiday. Another term for Bernanke, 55, will require US Senate confirmation.

'Ben Bernanke has led the Fed through one of the worst financial crises that this nation and the world has ever faced,' Obama said, crediting the central bank head with helping to bring the system back under control.

'Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall,' Obama said.

Bernanke has been in charge of the US money supply and large areas of banking and financial regulation during the ongoing recession, which grew out of a crash in housing prices and turned into a global crisis last year as mounting US mortgage defaults sparked a panic on Wall Street.

He has won praise from many economists for his handling of the fallout from the economic crisis. The Fed has lowered interest rates to an historic low of close 0 per cent and sharply expanded its money supply in order to provide financing to banks on the verge of collapse.

But Bernanke also drew sharp criticism from many lawmakers for failing to heed the warning signs and help avert the financial meltdown, which began with the collapse of investment powerhouse Lehman Brothers in September.

Bernanke's chief task in his second term will be unwinding many of the drastic measures the central bank has used to stabilize the financial system. The government has also taken controlling stakes in a number of banks and car companies.

Bernanke in brief remarks said he would 'work to the utmost of my abilities ... to help provide a solid foundation for growth and prosperity in an environment of price stability.'

Bernanke, who was appointed by former president George W Bush to succeed long-serving Fed chief Alan Greenspan, started a four-year term in February 2006.

   His current term expires on January 31.