HIGHLIGHTS-Bank of England's Carney speaks after inflation report

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney are answering questions after the central bank stepped up its warnings about the economic risks if Britain votes to leave the European Union.

Below are some of his comments:

MARK CARNEY, BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR:

ON EU REFERENDUM EFFECT ON UK ECONOMY

"Now (NYSE: DNOW - news) turning to the elephant in the room. The MPC judges that the most significant risks to its forecast concern the referendum."

SLOWING ECONOMY

"In the first quarter of this year, growth slowed further to around 1.5 percentage points annualised and it now appears to be decelerating again.

"The most recent weakness reflects in part the forthcoming referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union which has pushed up uncertainty measures to levels not seen since the euro crisis."

CAUTION AMONG POLICYMAKERS

"With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) macroeconomic and financial indicators likely to be less informative than usual in light of the referendum, the Committee is currently reacting more cautiously to data releases than would normally be the case. There is a risk that we could be over- or under-estimating underlying momentum in the economy in the event of a vote to remain in the EU."

THE 'REMAIN' SCENARIO

"The actual forecast we have under 'Remain', I wouldn't have described as gloomy. There are these uncertainty effects, they dissipate by the middle of next year." (Compiled by Andy Bruce)