WASHINGTON, July 18 (Xinhuanet) -- US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has said that high oil prices could hamper -- but not derail -- economic growth in the United States this year.

    In a letter to the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress which was released on Monday, Greenspan said that the rise in oil prices since the end of 2003 probably shaved economic growth by around three-fourths of a percentage point this year after having reduced growth by about one-half point last year.

    However, he said the US economy "seems to be coping pretty well with the run-up in crude oil prices" aside from these "headwinds."

    Meanwhile, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers of the White House Ben Bernanke said on Monday that high oil prices were having an impact on family budgets but he believed the effect on the overall US economy was modest.

    US economy increased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the first quarter of this year following a growth of 4.4 percent for all of 2004, the strongest performance since 1999. Many economists predicted that the US economy could grow by around 3.5 percent this year, a slower but still healthy pace. Enditem