European Central Bank President Mario Draghi departed from a prepared speech on Monday to reiterate the central bank's readiness to cut interest rates again if the euro zone economy deteriorates further.
The euro hit session lows against the dollar and the yen after Draghi said in Rome the ECB would monitor incoming data closely and would be ready to cut rates further, including the deposit rate currently at zero.
"We stand ready to act again," Draghi said.
The ECB cut its main interest rate to 0.5 per cent last week after Euro zone inflation fell sharply in April and unemployment hit a record high in March. It signalled then that it was ready to do more should the euro zone economy deteriorate further.
