ECB chief economist doesn't rule out rate cut: report

(FRANKFURT) - The European Central Bank has no hard and fast rule that its key interest rates cannot go below their current historic low of 1.0 percent, the bank's chief economist said in an interview Wednesday.

Nevertheless, long periods of ultra-low interest rates bring with them risks, Peter Praet warned in comments to be published in the Thursday edition of the Financial Times Deutschland.

"There's no doctrine that the key rate can't be below 1.0 percent," Praet said. "But there are risks and side-effects when interest rates remain low for long periods of time."

In response to the debt crisis, the ECB has brought borrowing costs in the single currency area down to their historic low of 1.0 percent in two separate moves last year.

But ECB watchers are predicting a further move next month as the crisis shows signs of further intensifying.