Economy News

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke defended the central bank’s record stimulus program under questioning from lawmakers, telling them that ending it prematurely would endanger a recovery hampered by high unemployment and government spending cuts.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes climbed in April to the highest level in more than three years even as the market remained constrained by a lack of inventory and strict borrowing rules.

Vietnam will find it “difficult” to cut interest rates further this year, central bank Deputy Governor Nguyen Dong Tien said, as the nation moves to create an asset company that would clean up bad debt and revive growth.