VIENNA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank needs to support the weak growth in the euro zone even though growth prospects in Austria are picking up, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told Austrian broadcaster ORF on Friday.
Asked in an interview why the ECB remained in crisis mode and kept interest rates at record lows and even was considering imposing negative interest on deposits banks place with it, he said: "This is not a realistic perspective, I must say."
The euro zone was set to grow only around 1 percent next year, he said, adding: "It is important to support this weak upturn," especially as inflation was well below the ECB's target of close to but below 2 percent.
The ECB is ready to take fresh policy action to support the euro zone economy but has not yet worked out a detailed plan of which policy tool to use when, President Mario Draghi had said on Thursday.
The Austrian National Bank, which Nowotny heads, forecast on Friday the domestic economy would pick up in 2014 and 2015. (Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Andrew Roche)