ECB's Visco says ultra-low rates drives risk taking

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Keeping interest rates low for a long time encourages investors to buy riskier assets in an effort to boost their earnings, but this is not necessarily a bad thing, ECB Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said on Friday "It is true that there are risks in keeping an accommodative monetary policy with ultra-low interest rates for a very long period of time, because it leads to a hunt for riskier investments with higher returns," Visco said in Florence presenting a book he wrote. "From a certain point of view I don't believe pushing (investors) to take on more risks is an evil," he added. (Reporting by Silvia Ognibene; Editing by Crispian Balmer)