Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday downplayed speculation that the central bank plans to scale back its quantitative easing program in the next few months.

Although the minutes from the most recent policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee suggested that asset purchases may soon wind down, Bernanke insists the Fed will fully support the recovery until it is on firmer footing.

Bernanke answered audience and online questions at the University of Michigan's Rackham Auditorium, making his first public comments since Congress voted to avert the fiscal cliff crisis on New Year's Day.

The fiscal cliff deal did remove some danger, but the economy remains susceptible to weakness in the labor market and a slowly improving housing sector, Bernanke said.

The Fed recently committed to keep interest rates at effectively zero until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5 percent. However, it has not tied its bond-buying program to any benchmark.

The asset purchase plan has been effective, Bernanke said, with unemployment dropping to 7.8 percent in December after holding above 8 percent for most of 2012.

Bernanke pointed to some positive signs for 2013: state governments are in much better shape and will not be trimming as many jobs this year, and the energy sector should provide a significant boost to the gross national product.

Housing is also a bright spot, Bernanke added.

However, he cautioned that the economy "has quite a ways to go" before the Fed can take its foot off the pedal.

If the economy does take a turn for worse, Bernanke said Fed stands ready with further measures to support economy growth.

Bernanke rebuffed critics charging that the Fed is needlessly risking runaway inflation with its highly accommodative monetary policy.

He assured the audience that price expectations are well-anchored, and that further bond buying would not run the risk of inflation.

RTTNews