Ben Bernanke: Economic Recovery Will Not Happen Fast

Today, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke spoke before Congress and testified that he hopes to see an end to the recession by the end of this year. Despite this hope, however, he also pointed out that true recovery is likely to take years. CNN Money reports on some of his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee this morning:

The head of the central bank said a turnaround will only occur "if actions taken by the administration, the Congress, and the Federal Reserve are successful in restoring some measure of financial stability." He also acknowledged the recovery might not go as well as hoped.

"This outlook for economic activity is subject to considerable uncertainty, and I believe that, overall, the downside risks probably outweigh those on the upside," he said in prepared remarks before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday.

Ben Bernanke declined to comment on plans for the banking system (although making it clear that supporting banks was paramount to economic recovery), and he also avoided details on when the Federal Reserve might start buying long-term Treasury bonds -- if the body does decide to do it.

It will be interesting to see how these developments affect the U.S. dollar in forex trading, which is falling to the euro right now.