WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - Actions by the Federal Reserve to keep credit markets from freezing in the financial panic last year have helped shield the economy, and prematurely ending them could put a recovery at risk, a top Fed official said on Monday.

"In the past, economic downturns were deepened or prolonged by the premature withdrawal of monetary or fiscal stimulus," Fed Board Governor Elizabeth Duke said in remarks prepared for delivery to Women in Housing and Finance.

"To the extent that the severity of the current downturn has thus far been mitigated by extraordinary credit support, a significantly weaker path of lending -- and thereby economic activity -- could very likely occur if policy support for the financial sector is withdrawn too soon," she said. (Reporting by Alister Bull, editing by Leslie Adler)