ECB must be careful about negative interest rates

• Being very unconventional, I think we have to be very careful of the possible negative effects of negative rates.
• "I would be very, very careful in going further in this direction."

WASHINGTON: The European Central Bank needs to be mindful of the side-effects of negative interest rates as they could hurt the profitability of banks, which transmit its policy to the economy, Italian central bank chief Ignazio Visco said on Thursday.

"Being very unconventional, I think we have to be very careful of the possible negative effects of negative rates," Visco told a conference on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank fall meetings. "I would be very, very careful in going further in this direction."