FRANKFURT, Dec 17 (Reuters) - It would not be a major problem if euro zone interest rates briefly dropped below 2 percent, European Central Bank Governing Council member and Bundesbank chief, Axel Weber, was reported as saying on Wednesday.
In an interview with news agency Dow Jones, Weber said that the ECB needed to tread carefully if it cut interest rates below its previous all-time low of 2 percent, but that it would not be a major problem.
"I wouldn't cry wolf if, in a situation of very low inflation and positive real rates, nominal rates would briefly fall below 2 percent," Dow Jones quoted Weber as saying.
The head of the Bundesbank added that since ECB staff published forecasts at the start of the month, the economic situation had worsened further.
"We've highlighted downside risks to growth, and news out since our latest projections indicate that some of those risks have started to materialize," he said.
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Ron Askew)