Washington, Aug 26 (DPA) President Barack Obama made the safe choice in re-appointing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second term, preferring not to roil financial markets and keep his economic team in place as the US begins to pull out of recession.

The announcement Tuesday was expected and welcomed by most economists.

Some lawmakers reacted with scepticism, but his nomination is nearly certain to be approved by the Senate before his current term ends Jan 31.

Bernanke, a Republican appointed by former president George W. Bush, will live and die by the current economic downturn, which is regarded as the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

When he appears before the Senate for a confirmation hearing later this year, Bernanke will face tough questions about his handling of the run-up, arrival and aftermath of the financial and economic crisis that swept the country and the world.

Obama credited Bernanke with helping Wall Street avoid a complete collapse after investment giant Lehman Brothers imploded in September. With many other banks teetering on the brink, Bernanke drastically expanded the Fed's money supply through a series of unprecedented lending programmes for financial firms.

The central bank quickly began cutting interest rates to revive bank lending. Its benchmark federal-funds rate has been at a record low of near zero percent since December.

The transition in January from Bush to Obama appeared relatively seamless. Bernanke had already worked closely with Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who previously headed the Fed's regional bank in New York before joining the administration.

But Bernanke has also come under fire for presiding over a sharp expansion of the government's role in the financial system. Many wonder how he will be able to extricate the Fed from its massive interventions and avoid a surge in inflation.

Some lawmakers have criticised the Fed for a focus on bailing out Wall Street rather than Main Street, as ordinary American consumers and small businesses have been dubbed. The central bank has had little role in stemming a record rate of home foreclosures or reducing unemployment, which the administration believes could top 10 percent this year.