Bernanke: Fed must follow policy with eye to future

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the United States faces a difficult situation with inflation high, rising oil and food prices, and stressed credit markets, and the central bank must balance the risks.

"The challenge for us is to try to balance those risks and decide at a given point in time which is more serious? Which has to be addressed first, which has to be addressed later?," Bernanke told the U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee.

"We have to ask the question where will the economy be six months to a year down the road?" he added.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by James Dalgleish)