The U.S. government is committed to keeping the dollar strong, says White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers.

Summers echoes Treasury Secretary William Geithner, who said recently at a G-7 meeting of finance ministers that “it is very important to the United States that we continue to have a strong dollar.”

Geithner “made it very clear that our commitment is to a strong dollar based on strong fundamentals,” Summers told reporters.

The dollar recently fell to its lowest level in over a year against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that he is in no hurry to raise interest rates from their near zero levels, a decision which helps keep the dollar weak.

Unemployment remains high and credit is tight even as the country shows signs it is emerging from the worst recession since the 1930s and lower interest rates help fuel recovery.

That all could change, perhaps not in the very near future, but some time.

While low rates will stick around for now, the fed will keep an eye on inflation and act when necessary, says the Fed chief.

“At some point, however, as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road,” Bernanke has recently said.