CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec 3 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said on Wednesday that quantitative measures potentially being considered by the central bank to boost U.S. growth would amount to monetizing government debt, but could be warranted to fight deflation.
"At times it is necessary to prevent deflation," he told reporters after delivering a speech, but added that he thought the risk of deflation in the United States was minor.
"That is in essence what those quantitative measures would amount to: monetizing debt. And as a result, we have to be very careful about it; we have to be careful about withdrawing it before it sparks a run-up in inflation. And that is one of the big challenges we have going forward," he said. (Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by James Dalgleish)