Bernanke, in remarks delivered via satellite to an international monetary conference in Spain, said that the Fed’s powerful doses of rate reductions that started last September along with the government’s $168 billion stimulus package, including rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses, should bring about “somewhat better economic conditions” in the second half of this year.

To help brace the economy, the Fed last month dropped its key rate to 2 percent, a nearly four-year low, but hinted that could be the last reduction for a while. Bernanke drove that point home again on Tuesday.

“For now policy seems well positioned to promote moderate growth and price stability over time,” he said.