The European Central Bank’s vice-president raised the bar on further interest rate cuts, saying the side effects of the ECB’s easy money policy were becoming more tangible.

In an interview with Market News, Luis de Guindos also ruled out a “policy U-turn” under the ECB’s incoming president Christine Lagarde and weighed in on a public spat among policymakers on last month’s decision to resume a 2.6 trillion euro bond-buying program.

The ECB pushed its deposit rate further into negative territory on Sept. 12 - effectively increasing a charge on banks’ idle cash - and investors have priced in a further rate cut by March next year.

But de Guindos poured cold water on such expectations.

“My impression is that -0.50% is the correct level at present, and as to any further cut, we will have a good, in-depth discussion in the Governing Council,” de Guindos said.

“Although we can reduce interest rates further, the side effects of monetary policy are becoming more and more evident and more and more tangible,” he added.