WASHINGTON — We may be into the second year of the economic recovery, but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are still facing plenty of challenges as they try to keep a fragile expansion on track.

A host of economic indicators have slowed in recent weeks and a sharp spike in gasoline prices earlier this year has made consumers and businesses more cautious about spending. The central bank, wrapping up a two-day meeting today, is expected to acknowledge the recent soft patch but insist that growth should rebound in the second half of the year.

In a speech earlier this month, Bernanke maintained the slowdown is temporary and said the economy should pick up later this year as the impact of high gas prices and supply disruptions caused by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan abate. However, the Fed is now confronting renewed jitters that a debt crisis in Greece could spread to other heavily indebted European nations and send shock waves through U.S. and global financial markets.

Today, the Fed is expected stay the course, keeping interest rates unchanged and declaring that it will end on schedule a $600 billion Treasury bond purchase program at the end of this month. The central bank also is expected to repeat a pledge to maintain its current level of securities holdings, which stand at a record $2.6 trillion. The belief is that this sizable stockpile will keep interest rates from rising even though the Fed is not adding to its holdings.

Many private economists believe it will be another full year before the economy has recovered enough for the Fed to actually start raising interest rates.

The Fed will release an updated economic forecast that analysts believe will trim growth expectations slightly while predicting that inflation outside of volatile food and energy prices will remain under control. Bernanke will explain the new forecast at a news conference following the Fed’s closed-door discussions. The media event — part of the chairman’s efforts to make the central bank less mysterious — follows his first regular news conference in April. Bernanke is expected to hold four sessions with reporters each year.