Fed's Evans says policy easing was not enough

The U.S. central bank's liquidity support was helpful in containing the 2008 financial crisis but it could have done more, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said on Tuesday.

While the liquidity support we provided the economy was very helpful, it was clearly not enough, Evans, who is not a voting member of the U.S. interest rate-setting panel, said during a panel session at a seminar in Seoul.

Given the huge resource gaps, and low and declining inflation, more monetary accommodation was appropriate, he added. He did not comment on the future policy of the Federal Reserve or on the economic situation.

He said the recent re-opening by the Federal Reserve of currency swap lines with the European Central Bank and a few others was necessary to deal with the potential rise in dollar funding pressures in world markets.

This step seems prudent as the dramatic repricing of the sovereign credit risk of some peripheral European countries has the potential to create dollar funding pressures in world markets, he said.

(Reporting by Yoo Choonsik; Editing by Nick Macfie)