Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, 10 Mar 2009A senior U.S. government official says President Barack Obama plans to nominate Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second term as head of the central bank.

The official told news agencies the president will make the announcement on Tuesday during a break from his vacation in Massachusetts.  The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Obama will praise Bernanke as someone who helped steer the country through a financial crisis.

Bernanke's current four-year term expires in 2010.  Before his appointment as Federal Reserve chairman, he served as chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers from 2005 to 2006.

Bernanke has taught economics at Princeton University.  He holds a B.A. degree in economics from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in the same field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, Bloomberg and Reuters.