Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, warned Thursday
that current high retail gasoline prices represent "a big burden to the US
economy," which could lead to higher inflation.

Bernanke, in testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress,
called current high prices "an inflation risk." While saying that the US
economy has "been pretty resilient so far," the fed chief warned that high
gasoline prices presented the US with dual risks, both to consumers as part of
their "basket" of costs, and potentially into "broader inflation" as high oil
prices work their way into other areas of the economy.

Bernanke made his comments in response to questions from legislators.

--Robert DiNardo, robert_dinardo@platts.com
--Cathy Landry, cathy_landry@platts.com