Washington: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reluctantly used the R word at a Congressional hearing, stressing that while a recession is possible he is not ready to say if indeed the United States would face such a situation.

The Bush administration, starting with President George Bush, has been quite reluctant in admitting that the American economic slump meant that the country is in recession.

"A recession is possible," Bernanke told Senator Charles Schumer at a Joint Hearing on the Economic Outlook.

"But a recession is a technical term defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research depending on data which will be available quite a while from now, so I am not yet ready to say whether or not the US economy will face such a situation," he quickly added.

In financial parlance, recession means the gross domestic product (GDP) registering negative growth in two consecutive quarters.

Later in his hearing on Capitol Hill, Bernanke explained to lawmakers how he saw the economic situation, especially his forecast that the economy may contract early this year before picking up.

"Well, let me be precise about what I said about our view of the forecast. We are currently in a period of slow growth that began in the fourth quarter of last year. We expect it to continue through the first half of this year," he said.

"It is possible not certain, but possible that the first half of this year will be slightly contractionary. That does not necessarily mean there is a recession, because it would depend on the circumstances," he added.

Source : PTI