ECB's Stournaras says monetary easing should continue

ATHENS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should continue with monetary easing with a series of rate cuts in the coming period as possible further protectionism by the United States could hurt the euro zone's moderate growth, the bank's policymaker Yannis Stournaras said late on Thursday.

Any further pressure on world trade from fresh protectionist measures imposed by the United States and others could impact the euro zone's very moderate growth, leading to below-target euro zone inflation, Stournaras said at an event in Athens.

"For these reasons, monetary policy easing should continue with a series of interest rate cuts at the next ECB Governing Council meetings," he said.

But he cautioned that the cuts should be gradual and based on evidence.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Hugh Lawson)