Bernanke says credit market problems tenacious: paper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is challenged and problems in credit markets are "tenacious," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the New York Times Magazine in an interview it released on Wednesday.

"It's been a challenging economic situation ... and also a difficult, rather tenacious set of problems in credit markets," the Times quoted him as saying in the text of a story released to the media in advance of publication. The story will be published in the magazine on Sunday.

"However, I have the advantage of having a terrific committee (the Federal Open Market Committee) ... and strong staff support, and I think we have a good hold and understanding of the situation," it quoted him as saying.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by James Dalgleish)