NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - When Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testifies on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Wall Street will listen closely for clues about the future path of Fed policy, while politicians will hope for some warnings about the swollen federal budget deficit.

In his semi-annual appearance before Congress, due to start Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET before the House Financial Services Committee, the central bank chief will start by delivering prepared remarks about the state of the economy and the likely course of monetary policy.

Fortune magazine recently reported that Greenspan is also chomping at the bit to speak out about the federal budget deficit, which is projected to exceed $500 billion this year, the highest on record. He may decide to register his complaint during his testimony, or he could expound on the subject during the marathon question-and-answer session after his prepared remarks.

A year ago, Greenspan went to the Hill and threw up a roadblock to President Bush's efforts to pass another round of tax cuts by warning about growing deficits and suggesting the tax cuts be put on hold until uncertainties about a looming war with Iraq were cleared up.

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This year, the deficit issue is again politically charged; Democrats vying to unseat Bush in November typically accuse him of wrecking the nation's fiscal future. Bush responds that tax cuts and higher government spending have been necessary to pull the economy out of recession and fight the war on terror.

The economy's health is another political football. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of about 6 percent in the second half, a robust pace, offering Bush some evidence that his tax cuts have helped stabilize the economy.

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But job growth has been unusually anemic so far, and if that trend continues, it could put increasing political pressure on Bush.

Weak job growth could also keep inflation low -- employee wages and salaries, the biggest driver of consumer price inflation, have grown sluggishly in recent years -- which would allow the Fed to keep its target for a key overnight bank lending rate at the lowest level in more than 40 years.

Last month, the Fed left its rate target alone and suggested it could be "patient" in raising rates.