US economy to grow, says Greenspan

THE US economy is poised to accelerate and the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates low for as long as necessary to ensure that happens, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday.

The Fed's policy-making Open Market Committee last month cut the benchmark overnight bank lending rate to a 45-year low of 1%. It will cut it again if growth doesn't pick up, Greenspan said in the text of testimony to the House Banking and Financial Services Committee.

"The FOMC stands prepared to maintain a highly accommodative stance for as long as needed to promote satisfactory economic performance,' Greenspan said.