Short term interest rates are to remain at "very low levels" in the euro zone, European Central Bank (ECB) board member Benoit Coeure said today.
"It is very clear to us that short term interest rates, the ones that are controlled by the central bank, will remain at very low levels, far beyond the horizon of our asset purchases," Mr Coeure told a French radio station.
Last week, the ECB dropped a long-standing pledge to increase its bond buying if needed, taking another small step in weaning the euro zone economy off its protracted programme of monetary stimulus.
Benoit Coeure said the exact timeframe and modalities of an exit from that programme of stimulus had not been yet debated.
"Inflation is not quite where we would like it to be," he added, regarding the ECB's inflation target.
The ECB has a target of inflation being below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.
Coeure also said the council of governors did not discuss a scenario under which a first rate hike in the euro zone could take place in mid-2019.
Merkel doesn't want to speculate on next ECB president
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declined to say whether she favoured a German becoming the next president of the European Central Bank after incumbent Mario Draghi's term ends in 2019.
"At the appropriate time, we will talk about the candidates for these personnel questions.
Of course, for all the positions to be filled in the next year ... we will have good candidates, but I don't want to speculate today," Merkel said.
"Whether there is a German, or a non-German, at the helm of a European institution, the reputation of this institution must as good as possible," she told a news conference in Berlin.
