Bernanke: Fed doing all it can to ease impact of foreclosures

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that the central bank is doing all it can to ease the impact of increasing foreclosures.

"We hope that our actions to stabilize the financial markets and the economy will help the credit crunch we see now," Bernanke told the congressional Joint Economic Committee in answering questions after testifying before the panel.

The Fed chief said that there are some signs of tighter loan standards impeding subprime borrowers moving to conventional loans.

"We hope that our policies over time will lead to a more normal financial system," he said.

(Reporting By Joanne Morrison; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama,)