Lagarde says ECB will continue to cut interest rates

(ANSA-AFP) - FRANKFURT, DEC 16 - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Monday eurozone policymakers would further cut interest rates if inflation continues to fall on its path towards the ECB's two-percent target. "If the incoming data continue to confirm our baseline, the direction of travel is clear and we expect to lower interest rates further," Lagarde said in a speech at the Bank of Lithuania. The ECB cut rates again last week as inflation looked to be coming under control and the eurozone economy showed signs of weakness. The quarter-point move was the Frankfurt-based central bank's third cut in a row and its fourth since June. The easing cycle has brought the ECB's key deposit rate down to three percent from an all-time high of four percent. The central bank's stance remained "restrictive", Lagarde said, meaning it would act as a brake on business activity in the eurozone -- the ECB's main lever for tamping inflation. The central bank, however, has been loosening its monetary policy and softening its messaging as consumer price pressures dissipate. (ANSA-AFP).