The European Central Bank has nothing new to say about instituting negative deposit rates, ECB President Mario Draghi has said.
His comments come after a report that the bank was actively considering the move.
"Let me plead with you - don't try to infer from what I say today anything on the possibility of negative rates on the deposit facility," Draghi said in a speech at an event organised by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
"As I said at the press conference, this was discussed in the last monetary policy meeting and there is no news since then," he said.
"So let me make this clear - you know people tend to put things together and create their own dreams," he added.
Draghi said on November 7 that the ECB was "technically ready" for negative rates, if the economy warranted them.
Those comments came at a news conference after the ECB cut its main refinancing rate to a record-low 0.25% and kept the deposit rate at zero.
With euro zone inflation running at 0.7%, well below its target of just under 2%, the ECB is open to the idea of taking fresh measures to support the economy. Vice-President Vitor Constancio said earlier this wee that "everything is possible".
Draghi's latest comments suggested that he wanted to temper expectations that the deposit rate would drop into negative territory so soon after the November rate cut, not take the idea off the table.
Cutting the deposit rate below zero would take the ECB into uncharted waters. It would effectively charge banks for holding money at the ECB.
Some people at the ECB consider a negative rate the logical next step if deflation continues to threaten the euro zone. Insiders say the option was discussed at this month's meeting and much work has been done to overcome the technical hurdles in recent months.
Draghi's comments came after the news agency Bloomberg said yesterday that the ECB was considering making banks pay to deposit cash overnight at the central bank. If the ECB went ahead, it would consider cutting the deposit rate to -0.1%, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.
In today's speech, Draghi also said the ECB's rate cut was meant to restore a margin of safety against deflation rather than signalling that the risk of deflation could materialise in the euro zone.
Draghi said the ECB had seen "slow-motion" disinflation for months. Combined with a weak economy, that suggests a prolonged period of low inflation was likely.
