U.S. may tighten monetary policy: Fed

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that monetary policy would be tightened when the country's economic recovery looked on a firm footing.

"My colleagues at the Federal Reserve and I believe that accommodative policies will likely be warranted for an extended period. At some point, however, as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road," Bernanke said in a speech on the Fed's balance sheet.