Fed's Dudley sees low risk of double-dip (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The risk of a double-dip recession remains "quite low" even though the pace of growth will be lower than he expected, said William Dudley, the president of the New York Fed, said Thursday. "The risk of a recession is somewhat higher than it was six months ago. That said, I think the risk of a recession is still quite low," Dudley said in remarks to business leaders in Newark, New Jersey, according to Reuters. In his prepared text, Dudley noted that market interest rates have generally moved lower after the Fed pledged to keep its benchmark rates near zero at least through mid-2013. This "should help provide some additional support for economic activity and jobs," Dudley said. He also downplayed a report that the New York Fed has been having extensive meetings with foreign lenders to gauge their vulnerability to a renewed financial crisis. "We're always scrutinizing European banks, U.S. banks and foreign banks in terms of how they're doing, capital, liquidity, credit quality - so this is standard operating procedure," Dudley said, according to the Star-Ledger, a newspaper based in Newark.