WASHINGTON (AFP) - New Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said on Monday that she had no plans to change monetary policy from that mapped out by her predecessor Ben Bernanke.

In her first comments on the US central bank's path forward after she took the helm on February 1, Ms Yellen said the Fed would continue to slowly reel in its huge stimulus while keeping a close eye on the labour market, where recovery remains "far from complete".

"I expect a great deal of continuity in the FOMC's approach to monetary policy," she told the Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives, referring to the Fed's policy body, the Federal Open Market Committee.

"I served on the committee as we formulated our current policy strategy and I strongly support that strategy," she said, according to the prepared text of her testimony.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am (1500 GMT).

Ms Yellen said the Fed expects the US economy to grow at a "moderate" pace in 2014-2015, with inflation subdued and no significant danger from the turmoil in emerging markets, some of it sparked by the Fed's own policies of reducing the
bond-buying stimulus programme.

The recent bouts of volatility around the world "do not pose a substantial risk to the US economic outlook," she told the panel.