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ECB's Knot: Don't expect real change in rates in coming years

FILE PHOTO: ECB board member Klaas Knot appears at a Dutch parliamentary hearing in The Hague

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymaker Klaas Knot on Sunday said he does not expect interest rates to fundamentally change in the coming years.

"I don't see any move towards fundamentally different rates in the coming years," Knot said in an interview with Dutch television program Buitenhof.

Rates could go up again in the future, the Dutch central bank governor said, but for now are being kept historically low by an abundance of savings and by a structurally low inflation rate in the euro zone.

Knot also warned of the lingering threat of a 'no-deal' Brexit at the end of this year, which he said could lower economic growth in the Netherlands by 0.5%.

"The imminent threat of a no-deal Brexit on Jan. 31 is negligible", Knot said.

"But the Brexit risk has only been postponed, as it seems impossible to have a comprehensive trade agreement that includes financial services in 11 months."

(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Editing by William Maclean)