KYOTO, Japan, June 9 (Reuters) - European Central Bank Vice-President Lucas Papademos said on Tuesday a recent rise in bond yields need not reflect expectations for a rate hike.
"Recent increase in bond yields can be a consequence of various factors and need not reflect expectations of increase in short-term interest rates in the future," Papademos said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Conference in Kyoto, western Japan.
He also said the current ECB policy rate is appropriate but the central bank never precommits itself to a future path of policy rates.
(Reporting by Stanley White, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Shigeo Kodama)