NY Fed's Dudley: liquidity moves have helped

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's moves to boost financial market liquidity have helped improve market function, but problems will likely linger for some time, a senior official from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday.

"Most evidence suggests that the TAF and TSLF auctions have improved market functions," William Dudley, executive vice president of the New York Fed, said in remarks prepared for a panel on credit market turmoil at the Chicago Fed's annual bank structure conference.

The Fed is "committed to supplying liquidity to banks and primary dealers as needed," Dudley said.

Dudley, who is in charge of overseeing financial markets, including the Fed's daily money market operations, was making his first extensive comments on the credit crisis since mid-October.

The Fed's willingness to provide liquidity against less liquid collateral has meant the credit market's adjustment "causes less damage to the financial system and less pernicious macroeconomic consequences," Dudley said.

A copy of Dudley's presentation was made available in advance.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Andrea Ricci)