ECB's Coeure - no need for LTRO now, still have rate cut option

GENEVA (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymaker Benoit Coeure said on Wednesday he saw no need for the ECB to act by launching a new long-term loan measure (LTRO) now, as money market rates are not rising.

Market rates moved higher over the summer on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would start unwinding its stimulus. They subsided after the Fed delayed a reduction in its bond purchases but the ECB is watching them closely, concerned that a sustained rise could threaten the euro zone's fragile recovery.

Asked what the ECB could do if the euro zone's recovery falters, Coeure said: "we still need low rates to protect (the) recovery ... we still have the possibility to cut rates and we've been clear on that."

Coeure was answering questions after giving a lecture at the International Centre for Monetary and Banking Studies in Geneva.

(adds word "now" in headline to clarify meaning)

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Writing by Paul Carrel)