ECB's Villeroy: There are limits on how negative rates can go

Speaking in Berlin, the European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on the central bank’s monetary policy in light of the German criticisms.

Key Quotes:

Monetary policy isn't the only game in town

German criticism of ECB reflects need to explain our mon pol decisions better

Recent decisions are inline with stability principles German culture incarnates

Inflation has been well below 2 pct for 3 years now, this can't be explained completely by fall in Oil prices and our mandate imposes a duty to react

We are only 15 months after the real start of quantitative easing in the Euro zone but we can already see some positive effects

ECB results must be judged in medium term

We have monitored banks' profitability closely and in 2015 there is no evidence that the ECB's unconventional policies are doing harm overall

There are limits on how negative rates can go