The European Central Bank can cut its main policy rate even further after decreasing it to a new record low on Thursday, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said.
Responding to a drop in euro zone inflation well below its target level of just under 2 percent and rising unemployment, the ECB lowered its main rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.50 percent.
"We can always cut more. We were clear on this," Coeure told French radio station France Inter on Saturday. "We will cut again if new indicators confirm a deterioration in the situation."
ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday stuck with the ECB's forecast that economic recovery would take hold lar in the year but highlighted "downside risks" to that position.
The ECB would "monitor very closely" all incoming evidence, Draghi said, a phrase which in the past has suggested further policy action to come.