Bernanke Says Market-Based Rate Could Replace Libor as Benchmark

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said a number of market rates could replace the London interbank offered rate as a benchmark for lending rates.

There “still are problems with the current Libor system,” Bernanke told the House Financial Service Committee today in Washington during his semi-annual testimony to Congress. The index “doesn’t reflect actual market transactions.”

“One strategy would be to switch to a market-based indicator,” he said. Bernanke declined to endorse a specific rate, though he said possibilities include “repo rates, the OIS index, even potentially Treasury bill rates.” He was referring to the overnight indexed swap rate.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Zumbrun in Washington at jzumbrun@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net