Fed chairman hints at US rate cut

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan foresees no quick end to sluggish economic growth in the United States and has signalled that the Fed stands ready to cut interest rates for a seventh time this year.

‘‘The period of subpar economic performance ... is not yet over, and we are not free of the risk that economic weakness will be greater than currently anticipated and require further policy response,’’ Greenspan told the House Financial Services Committee in his twice-a-year report on the US economy.