Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was expected to be confirmed for a second term at the US central bank on today, heading off a backlash by some politicians from both sides of the political aisle over his handling of the financial crisis, dpa reported. Bernanke, first appointed by former president George W Bush and renominated by President Barack Obama, faced greater than expected opposition in the Senate. But a majority were still expected to back his reappointment to another five-year term in an afternoon vote. A scholar of the Great Depression, Bernanke's Fed aggressively cut interest rates and injected nearly 2 trillion dollars in liquidity into banks to help the United States weather its worst economic crisis in seven decades. But both Democrats and Republicans criticized the central bank for failing to heed warning signs in the run-up to the Wall Street's near collapse in September 2008. Others condemned the unpopular bank bail- outs led by the Fed and Treasury Department over the past year. Even supporters approved Bernanke's appointment with some reluctance, praising his stewardship of the Fed during the downturn but criticizing him and former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan for lax monetary policy as the financial crisis was brewing. "The chairmanship of Ben Bernanke has in no small measure made it possible for this nation to avoid a catastrophe that I think would have been as large as the Great Depression," Christopher Dodd, chair of the Senate's powerful Banking Committee, said on the Senate floor. Dodd argued reappointing Bernanke was critical to providing market stability as the country embarks on a tentative economic recovery, but critics argued the Fed chairman must be held responsible for being a key player in Wall Street's collapse. "I believe in accountability," said Republican Senator Richard Shelby. "The record clearly indicated that considerable economic devastation occurred as a result of Chairman Bernanke's loose monetary policy and weak regulatory oversight."
