BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that near-term spending cuts, which are set to take hold later this week, would threaten an already challenged economic expansion.

He made the comments in a presentation of the central bank’s semi-annual report to Congress on Tuesday.

Ben Bernanke said, "To address both the near and longer term issues, the Congress and the administration should consider replacing the sharp, frontloaded spending cuts required by the sequestration, with policies that reduce the federal deficit more gradually in the near term but more substantially in the longer run."

Bernanke warned these spendings cuts could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the economic recovery. Bernanke also strongly defended the US central bank’s bond-buying stimulus, saying its benefits clearly exceed possible costs.

Bernanke said Fed policymakers were aware of potential risks from their support for the economy. These include the possibility of the public losing confidence in the central bank to implement the stimulus, or the destabilizing effect of low rates on key markets.

(Source: CNTV.cn)