The chairman of the U.S. central bank testifies before Congress Tuesday to offer his latest insights into the country’s struggling economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to appear before lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Bernanke has repeatedly assured lawmakers and investors that the central bank has tools to help boost the economy, despite already lowering the benchmark borrowing rate to almost zero. But the Fed’s latest maneuver to lower borrowing rates for consumers has yet to make an impact.
The U.S. government said last week that the country’s sluggish economy grew a bit faster than first estimated in the April-to-June period, but still not fast enough to reduce the country’s high unemployment rate.
More than 14 million people are unemployed and the country’s unemployment rate has hovered around 9 percent for months.
A report last week on U.S. consumer sentiment showed Americans are also worried about the troubled housing market and falling stock prices.