New York: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will probably assure Congress that the central bank is mindful of the lack of job growth in the US and an increase in the benchmark interest rate isn't imminent after the Fed's decision to raise the cost of direct loans to banks.

The Fed chief will deliver his semi-annual report on the economy and interest rates to House and Senate panels on February 24 and 25. Fed officials last month forecast growth of 2.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent this year, and minutes of their January meeting showed they are seeking more evidence the recovery is sustainable.

New York Fed President William Dudley indicated on Friday that policymakers need to focus now on maintaining growth rather than fighting inflation, citing a smaller-than-forecast increase in the consumer-price index for January reported by the Labour Department. Another measure of prices, which excludes energy and food, dropped for the first time since 1982."Monetary policy is about the economy," Dudley, a voting member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, told reporters after a speech in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "We need to see solid growth and job creation."

Consumer prices rose 0.2 per cent in January from December, and so-called core prices unexpectedly fell 0.1 per cent. The report "showed there's no inflation pressure," Dudley said. "So our focus needs to be on growth and jobs."The Fed on February 18 said its decision to increase the discount rate by a quarter-point to 0.75 per cent represented a "normalisation" of lending rather than a change in policy.

Officials also repeated that economic conditions warrant low levels in the federal funds rate "for an extended period".

That's a phrase Bernanke is likely to repeat to lawmakers this week, said Ethan Harris, head of economics for North America at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Deficit panel may have CEO

Erskine Bowles, named to head a new federal deficit commission, said President Barack Obama is considering putting a corporate CEO on the panel, while Republican co-chairman Alan Simpson said he favours adding former Missouri Republican senator John Danforth to it.

Obama "has talked to us about some people," Bowles said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. "He's talked to us about some former members of Congress. He's talked to us about some CEOs. And he's talked to us about some people who know a lot about the budget."

Danforth served three terms before stepping down in 1994.