WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Stanley Fischer, the former governor of the Bank of Israel, as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.

If confirmed by the US Senate, Fischer will succeed the Fed's vice chair Janet Yellen, who will replace Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to take the helm of the central bank in February.

Obama also nominated Lael Brainard, former US treasury undersecretary for international affairs, to serve as a Fed governor and renominated the current Fed governor Jerome Powell for a second term.

"These three distinguished individuals have the proven experience, judgment and deep knowledge of the financial system to serve at the Federal Reserve during this important time for our economy," Obama said in a statement.

The three nominations came at a delicate moment when the Fed has just begun gradually normalizing its monetary policy as the U. S. economy picked up in recent months.

In December, the Fed announced that it would start in January to taper its purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed debt to a pace of 75 billion dollars a month from 85 billion dollars a month.