Fed's Plosser: economic uncertainty getting bigger

ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said on Tuesday that uncertainty about the economy was increasing.

"The uncertainty about what's going to happen is getting bigger," he said in response to a question after a speech to the Rochester University Simon Graduate School of Business.

A sharp downgrade to the Fed's economic outlook prompted the central bank to ease interest rates in September, while a further rate cut in October was meant to preempt further economic fallout.

But he also said that taking out such "insurance" also had risks, namely increasing the risk of higher inflation.

Plosser, known as one of the more hawkish members among Fed policy-makers, will become a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee next year.

(Reporting by Pedro da Costa and Tamawa Kadoya; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)