US Fed chief warns of spending cuts

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129826§ionid=3510203



US Central Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned the Capitol Hill against further spending cuts that might lead to another economic relapse.

In his Wednesday testimony before the House Budget Committee, the US Federal Reserve chief said, "Right now I do not think is the time -- this very moment is not the time -- to radically reduce our spending or raise our taxes because the economy is still in recovery mode and needs that support."

His comments come after Congressional Republicans followed by a number of Democrats made an attempt recently to cut the federal government's budget deficit, US media reported Wednesday.

The US administration has been blighted by a burgeoning budget deficit projected to top $1.6 trillion in 2011, which is about 10.6 percent of the nation's total output.

Bernanke also urged the Congress to draw up a plan in an attempt to bring the deficits to a more sustainable level.

Termed in the US media, as the "Great Recession," the latest economic downturn has also led to the loss of about eight million jobs, making America's exit from the recession a phenomenon botched by jobs scarcity, figures from the country's Labor Department suggest.

The lack of jobs has led economists in the US Fed to call the phenomenon a "jobless recovery."