ECB's Visco says ultra-low rates drives risk taking

Reuters

Published May 06, 2016 02:04PM ET

ECB's Visco says ultra-low rates drives risk taking

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Keeping interest rates low for a long time encourages investors to buy riskier assets in an effort to boost their earnings, but this is not necessarily a bad thing, ECB Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said on Friday

"It is true that there are risks in keeping an accommodative monetary policy with ultra-low interest rates for a very long period of time, because it leads to a hunt for riskier investments with higher returns," Visco said in Florence presenting a book he wrote.