Former top economic aide to US President Barack Obama, Lawrence Summers had withdrawn from consideration to succeed current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. This was according to the US President said on Sunday. Summers also served the Clinton administration as Treasury secretary.

Obama said, "Earlier today, I spoke with Larry Summers and accepted his decision to withdraw his name from consideration for Chairman of the Federal Reserve."

Summers was considered to replace Bernanke whose second term expires in January. Lawrence Summers is regarded to be a brilliant economist and decisive policy maker. However, Summers was dogged by issues including his support during the 1990s deregulation. He was also confronted with controversies when he made comments regarding women's aptitude while president of Harvard.

The ex-economy aide said the storm surrounding his possible nomination pointed to a difficult confirmation process. He added that it could hurt the president's economic agenda the Federal Reserve. This made him pull back from the consideration to be the next Fed chairman.