Bernanke says exit timing depends on economic and financial developments

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that the timing of the exit strategy of the central bank would depend on economic and financial developments.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke looks up during his meeting with  Senator Dick Durbin to discuss Federal Reserve policy and Bernanke's  upcoming confirmation vote at Capitol Hill in Washington January 25, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"The sequencing of steps and the combination of tools that the Federal Reserve uses as it exits from its currently very accommodative policy stance will depend on economic and financial developments," said Bernanke in his prepared remarks to the House Financial Services Committee.

The hearing was canceled due to winter storms pounding Washington. But the Federal Reserve released the statement on its website.

"The economy continues to require the support of accommodative monetary policies," Bernanke said in the statement.

"However, we have been working to ensure that we have the tools to reverse, at the appropriate time, the currently very high degree of monetary stimulus," said the central bank chief. "We have full confidence that, when the time comes, we will be ready to do so."