FACTBOX: Fed policy-makers' recent comments

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The following is a summary of recent comments by Federal Reserve policy-makers:

* Denotes 2008 voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets U.S. monetary policy.

* PHILADELPHIA FED PRESIDENT CHARLES PLOSSER, DEC 2:

"The Fed must credibly commit to preventing sustained deflation from becoming widely anticipated, just as it must prevent sustained inflation from becoming widely anticipated."

ST LOUIS FED PRESIDENT JAMES BULLARD, DEC 2:

"I don't think the risk (of deflation) is that high right now. I do think that the inflation expectations are very fluid right now. The big challenge for the Fed is to keep these under control."

* FED RESERVE CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE, DEC 1:

"Although conventional interest rate policy is constrained by the fact that nominal interest rates cannot fall below zero, the second arrow in the Federal Reserve's quiver -- the provision of liquidity -- remains effective. Indeed, there are several means by which the Fed could influence financial conditions through the use of its balance sheet, beyond expanding our lending to financial institutions. First, the Fed could purchase longer-term Treasury or agency securities on the open market in substantial quantities."

CHICAGO FED PRESIDENT CHARLES EVANS, NOV 21:

"Committee members also noted that the degree of uncertainty about the outlook was unusually high. In large part this reflects the wide range of possible outcomes for the financial crisis and the associated interactions with the real economy. Personally, I thought it was easier to envision the bad-outcome scenarios than the good ones. Most of my colleagues agreed, and so viewed the risks to the forecast as being skewed to the downside."

RICHMOND FED PRESIDENT JEFFREY LACKER, NOV 21:

"Many analysts expect the U.S. economy to regain positive momentum some time in 2009. That strikes me as a reasonable expectation.

"It may seem premature to be worrying about how inflation behaves after the recession is over, but we need to be sure our policy remains consistent with a strategy that does not allow inflation to ratchet up over the business cycle."

ST LOUIS FED PRESIDENT JAMES BULLARD, NOV 20:

"At least over the near term, any additional influence through interest rate reductions will be limited, and the focus of monetary policy may turn to quantity measures.

"The fact is, monetary policy defined as movements in short-term nominal interest rates is coming to an end, at least for now."

* FED VICE CHAIRMAN DONALD KOHN, NOV 19:

"We have a very weak economy. The U.S. economy is declining right now. My most likely outcome is for a couple of quarters of negative growth and inflation coming down, but not getting to that deflationary state.

"Some people have argued that we should save our ammunition, that interest rate cuts aren't effective. I think that were we to see this (deflation) possibility, that we should be very aggressive with our monetary policy, as aggressive as we can be."

* FED RESERVE CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE, NOV 18:

"There are some signs that credit markets, while still quite strained, are improving.

"We have seen a vivid appreciation in the dollar recently during the crisis, precisely because there has been a lot of interest in the safe haven and liquidity in dollar markets."

KANSAS CITY FED PRESIDENT THOMAS HOENIG, NOV 17:

"The Fed has done about as much as it can do.

"Monetary policy is not designed to address many of the underlying factors, particularly when the problems extend beyond liquidity and raise issues of solvency and informational shortcomings."

* CLEVELAND FED PRESIDENT SANDRA PIANALTO, NOV 14:

"At the moment, the signs point to a recession beyond just a 'garden variety' downturn. The length and severity of the recession will depend on how quickly credit markets return to normal."

FOMC STATEMENT, OCT 29:

"The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures. Business equipment spending and industrial production have weakened in recent months, and slowing economic activity in many foreign economies is damping the prospects for U.S. exports.

"Moreover, the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely to exert additional restraint on spending, partly by further reducing the ability of households and businesses to obtain credit.

"In light of the declines in the prices of energy and other commodities and the weaker prospects for economic activity, the Committee expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters to levels consistent with price stability.

"Recent policy actions, including today's rate reduction, coordinated interest rate cuts by central banks, extraordinary liquidity measures, and official steps to strengthen financial systems, should help over time to improve credit conditions and promote a return to moderate economic growth.

"Nevertheless, downside risks to growth remain. The Committee will monitor economic and financial developments carefully and will act as needed to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability."

(Reporting by Ros Krasny)