Bernanke says U.S. Fed has options as rates near zero

By Ros Krasny

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday urged decisive action to protect the U.S. economy and said the central bank had alternative tools it could employ to help as interest rates approach zero.

"Our nation's economic policy must vigorously address the substantial risks to financial stability and economic growth," Bernanke told the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

On a day when the arbiter of U.S. business cycles said the United States fell into recession last December, Bernanke said the economy was still under "considerable stress" and had slipped further since markets crumbled anew in September.

"Households have continued to retrench, putting consumer spending on a pace to post another sharp decline in the fourth quarter," the Fed chief warned.

Bernanke said further cuts in overnight interest rates beneath the Fed's current target of 1 percent were "certainly feasible," but he suggested the U.S. central bank would also use other unconventional measures to spur growth.

"Although conventional interest rate policy is constrained by the fact that nominal interest rates cannot fall below zero, the second arrow in the Federal Reserve's quiver -- the provision of liquidity -- remains effective," he said.

He said the Fed could directly purchase "substantial quantities" of longer-term securities issued by the U.S. Treasury or government-sponsored agencies to lower yields and stimulate demand.

Bernanke also said the Fed could side-step institutions that are reluctant to lend and pump money directly into specific markets. The Fed has already done this in the market for commercial paper, short-term debt companies use to finance day-to-day operations, and last week it announced a program to push funds into markets for consumer-related debt as well.