Washington  - If massive government action to revive the US economy is successful the recession affecting the world's largest economy could begin to turn around this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday.

Testifying before the US Senate Banking Committee, the central bank chairman said the government stimulus is essential to break the cycle of adverse feedback that helps to keep the economy down.

Washington  - If massive government action to revive the US economy is successful the recession affecting the world's largest economy could begin to turn around this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday.

Testifying before the US Senate Banking Committee, the central bank chairman said the government stimulus is essential to break the cycle of adverse feedback that helps to keep the economy down.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4  -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the government should increase its efforts to stem the sharp rate of U. S. foreclosures.

"Despite good-faith efforts by both the private and public sectors, the foreclosure rate remains too high," Bernanke said Thursday in a prepared speech at the Federal Reserve System Conference on Housing and Mortgage Markets in Washington.

Bernanke said 2.25 million U. S. homes could end up in foreclosure in 2008, "up from an average pace of less than 1 million homes during the pre-crisis period."

Frankfurt - The world's leading central banks are ready to take more steps to stabilize global markets if need be, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said Friday.

He said continuing volatility and recent economic indicators show that there are challenges ahead. Bernanke was in Germany to attend a conference sponsored by the European Central Bank to review the history of the euro.

Washington - Wall Street stocks rose sharply on Monday amid indications that a second fiscal stimulus package could be on the way to boost the faltering US economy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in congressional testimony that another stimulus package "seems appropriate." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that President George W Bush was keeping an "open mind" to the idea.

An economic stimulus package passed in February spent 152 billion dollars, most of it through tax credit checks sent to individual taxpayers.

Washington - US growth will remain weak for "several" quarters as the world's largest economy works through a financial and housing crisis that has sharply reduced spending, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Monday.

Amid fears that the US has already dipped into a recession, Bernanke told a congressional hearing that a second fiscal stimulus package could help kick-start the economy.