No talks on new term for Bernanke

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said he had not discussed with US President Barack Obama the possibility of serving a third term at the helm of the US central bank, leaving his future up in the air.

It came as the Fed took the unprecedented step of saying it would keep interest rates near zero until the jobless rate falls to 6.5%, well below its current level, and it promised to pump more money into the economy.

It said its commitment to hold rates steady until its unemployment threshold was reached would hold as long as inflation was projected to be no more than 2.5% one or two years ahead and inflation expectations were contained.