Bernanke says Asia is leading the recovery

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Asian economies are ahead of the curve in the global economic recovery.

"At this point, while risks to the economic outlook certainly remain, Asia appears to be leading the global recovery," Bernanke said in remarks to a conference on Asia and the global financial crisis in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Bernanke said Asian economies suffered a sharp, belated downturn in the economic morass "even if the origins of the downturn were elsewhere."

A slowdown in trade due to decreased spending in developed countries hit Asia hard, he said.

"Outsized decline in trade volumes lies in the extreme uncertainty that prevailed in the darkest months of the crisis." he said.

Those looking for hints of how or when the Fed would back away from the extraordinary measures taken to prop up the U.S. economy would find none in the chairman's speech. Bernanke stayed focused on Asian economies.

He said emerging economies now find themselves with greater say in international economic policy through the Group of 20 nations, which has surpassed the more elite Group of Seven as a platform for economic debate.