Bernanke Says Stronger Recovery Would Reduce State Fiscal Woes

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said an improvement in state and local government finances will depend on the rate of U.S. economic expansion.

“If the economy continues to strengthen at about the pace projected by the Federal Reserve and many private forecasters, states and localities may start to get a little breathing space,” Bernanke said yesterday in a speech in New York. Measures of risk in the market for state and local debt that rose earlier this year are now receding, he said.