Fed eyes impact of dollar on mandate-Fed's Lacker

RICHMOND, Va. Nov 17 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday that while the central bank pays close attention to the value of the dollar, the Fed's main focus is to preserve the dollar's domestic purchasing power.

"We pay close attention to the value of the dollar to the extent it has implications for our mandate for inflation and growth," Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker told reporters after a speech at the Virginia House of Delegates.

Asked whether the depreciation of the dollar might be considered a barometer of the Fed's credibility as the protector of the purchasing power of the U.S. currency, he said, "Our central objective is and always has been the domestic purchasing power of the U.S. currency. The dollar plays some role in that, but to some extent it's a bit tangential to that." (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)