February 29, 2008	Friday	Safar 21, 1429

LONDON, Feb 28: The dollar plunged to another record low against the euro on Thursday on fresh comments from the Federal Reserve chief on the plight of the US economy and another set of weak growth data.

The single European currency jumped to its highest ever reading against the US unit, $1.5209, against $1.5119 late Wednesday.

The euro broke through the symbolic $1.50 barrier on Tuesday for the first time since its creation in 1999 and has been climbing ever since.

The dollar came under heavy pressure on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signalled again that the Fed would lower US interest rates further in the near term.

In additional testimony Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said the US economy was in worse shape now than it was before the recession in 2001 and acknowledged that inflation was “complicating” the Fed’s attempts to spur a recovery.

“We are facing a situation where we have simultaneously a slowdown in the economy, stress in the financial markets and inflation pressure coming from these commodity prices abroad,” Bernanke said.

“Each of those things represents a challenge. We have to make our policy in trying to balance these different risks in a way that will get the best possible outcome for the American economy.”

The US government meanwhile reported that the economy expanded at a sluggish 0.6 per cent annual pace in the fourth quarter.

Analysts had expected a slight upward revision to 0.8pc for the quarter, which remains the weakest since late 2002.—AFP