FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has not run out of ammunition and can use further tools, but to revive euro zone growth governments should do their share, ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio told CNN on Monday.
The ECB cut interest rates almost to zero last week and launched a new programme to buy asset-backed securities on top of the four-year loans it will offer banks in September to boost lending and revive the economy.
But the ECB can still do more if needed, Constancio said.
"In July at the press conference, (ECB) President (Mario) Draghi said that we are not excluding a priori any instrument that we see as legal and within our remit," Constancio told CNN in an interview. He added that there were "further tools" the ECB could use without saying which ones they were.
But Constancio said that to revive growth, structural reforms were necessary.
"If we are talking about growth then it is clear that monetary policy cannot do it alone and needs the help of other policies," he said, referring to Draghi's earlier calls for such reforms and more flexible government spending within the assigned budget deficit limits.
While euro zone periphery countries had gone through painful reforms and were now reaping the benefits in the shape of an economic rebound, other countries still had work to do, Constancio said.
"We expect that other countries more to the centre of Europe will also do reforms that will help to increase potential growth in Europe. That is very important."
(Reporting by Eva Taylor; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)