The European Central Bank's (ECB) Chief Economist Peter Praet said on Thursday that low interest rates were caused due to "economic malaise" in the Eurozone and across world.

"Low interest rates are ultimately a consequence of weak secular trends, coupled with the cyclical consequences of a complex debt crisis, exacerbated by a monetary union with institutional and structural flaw," he said.

Praet noted that the central bank will monitor closely risks to the risks to the inflation outlook, adding that it could adjust its asset buying programme.