The European Central Bank should be in no hurry to again cut interest rates in the near future, ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel said in an interview published Friday.

"We are in a good place," Schnabel told financial news service Econostream Media, pointing to strong manufacturing and growth data across the eurozone as well as banks reporting that current rates were not putting off borrowers.

"Manufacturing has continued to improve with, strikingly, all the forward-looking indicators having continued their upward trend," Schnabel said, meaning that "the bar for another rate cut is very high".

Asked if the euro's recent strengthening against the dollar could drag inflation below the ECB's two percent target, Schnabel said she was sceptical.

"The fear of the exchange rate appreciation putting downward pressure on underlying inflation is exaggerated," Schnabel said.

She argued that many European importers would likely pocket lower import costs for themselves, not passing the savings onto consumers.

She added that the euro's recent strength itself reflected renewed economic vigour in the eurozone.

"I see no risk of a sustained undershooting of inflation over the medium term," Schnabel said.

Schnabel, who recently met with US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at an ECB event in Portugal, further said she was "optimistic" that the Fed could maintain its independence in the face of President Donald Trump demanding that it cut rates faster.

"One concrete advantage of independence is that it reduces risk premia," Schnabel said, warning that Trump's attacks could prove self-defeating.

"By challenging Fed independence, risk premia may move up, which would increase rather than lower interest rates."
The ECB holds its next rate-setting meeting on July 24, with most observers expecting it to keep rates steady after seven successive cuts.