MADRID, Oct 27: European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday that another cut in the bank’s key interest rate was “possible” when its board meets next month.

“I consider it possible that the Governing Council would decrease interest rates once again at its next meeting on November 6. It is not a certainty, it is a possibility,” he told business luncheon in Madrid.

Trichet said such a move was possible because inflationary pressures have eased, due mostly to lower prices for commodities such as oil. The ECB cut its main lending rate by 0.50 percentage points to 3.75 per cent on October 8 as part of rare concerted action by leading central banks around the world to avert a collapse of the banking system and to shore up credit.

Analysts said the move, which came amid a significant slowdown in the eurozone economy, marked a shift in the bank’s focus toward economic growth and away from its traditional focus on price stability.

Last week, ECB executive board member Jose Manual Gonzalez-Paramo of Spain said the bank could lower “rates without adding to inflationary risks in the medium term.” Eurozone inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in September after a peak of 4.0 per cent in June and July.—AFP