Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, on Tuesday looked to soothe fears of US inflation by outlining how the Fed plans to wean the financial sector off its extraordinarily loose monetary policy.

Bernanke told Congress many of its measures taken to combat the crisis would unwind automatically once the economy began to recover as the Fed's facilities charged rates of interest above "normal" interest-rate spreads.

The Fed chairman said central to its exit strategy was its ability to