Fed's Lockhart says fiscal deficit a looming problem

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Atlanta Federal Reserve president Dennis Lockhart said on Tuesday that U.S. fiscal deficits were manageable in the short term, but its aging population meant the problem must be faced.

"This is a not a time to be sanguine," he told an audience at Georgetown University during a panel discussion on the U.S. economy.

Lockhart said the United States faced an "avalanche" of entitlement-related debt building from 2012 onward, as the baby boom generation began to retire in large numbers and draw upon Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid support.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Jan Paschal)