Fed chief: Pension burden troubling

WASHINGTON -- Any more moves by companies to dump troubled pension plans on the financially strapped agency that insures them for working men and women would be troubling but shouldn't threaten the economy, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday. Greenspan made his remarks to the Senate Banking Committee after he delivered what may be his final economic outlook to Congress. He plans to step down early next year after 18 years on the job.

The Fed chief was asked by Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky, what the impact on the economy would be if more companies were to dump their pension plans on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., an agency that is running a record deficit that tops $20 billion and which recently assumed the obligations of the United Airlines pension plans.

An additional pension burden for the PBGC ''clearly is negative," Greenspan told Bunning.

''I think it is a worrisome thing for American taxpayers, needless to say," he said.