The European Central Bank's rate cutting cycle could accelerate over coming months, governing council member Fabio Panetta said today.
The ECB last week cut its key interest rates by 25 basis points after a similar move in June, while the US Federal Reserve lowered its own rates on Wednesday by 50 basis points, kicking off an anticipated easing cycle.
Panetta, who is governor of the Bank of Italy and considered a monetary policy dove, said the move by the US central bank, coupled with a sluggish euro zone economy, made a case for faster ECB cuts.
"In Europe what we've seen is ... a persistent weakness of the economy," he said at an economic conference in the Sicilian city of Catania.
"Maybe these two things, the signals that are coming from the United States and the signals from the European economic indicators, can lead us to think the reduction of (ECB) interest rates can be accelerated in the coming months."
