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Bernanke urges action to heal housing markets

11 February 2012 03:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday issued a call to action to restore U.S. housing markets, saying depressed house prices and sales are a serious drag on the economic recovery, APA reports quoting Reuters.
"The state of housing has been an impediment to a faster recovery," he told a home builders’ conference. "We need to continue to develop and implement policies that will help the housing sector get back on its feet."
Bernanke laid out a few ideas from a recent Fed "white paper" on housing, but steered clear of the more controversial options, such as expanding the reach of government-controlled mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to spur more refinancing.
The Fed chief’s recommendations, however cautious, fly in the face of complaints from some Republican lawmakers that the central bank was intruding on the turf of Congress and other regulators.
The white paper, issued last month, was the result of several months of study by Fed staff of a problem officials at the central bank have concluded is a key missing ingredient to a healthier economic recovery.