WASHINGTON — Ben S. Bernanke, having survived a surprising challenge to his second term as Federal Reserve chairman, now faces the delicate task of beginning to pull the central bank out of its extraordinary effort to prop up the economy.

The main question is when and how the Fed should start raising short-term interest rates, which have been at a record low for more than a year. Related is the issue of how to manage, and eventually shrink, the record $2.2 trillion balance sheet that the Fed amassed as it pumped vast sums of money into the economy, starting in 2008. On Wednesday morning, the Fed will release a statement outlining Mr. Bernanke’s views on moving away from its exceptionally easy monetary policy.

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