Italy's Central Bank Governor Fabio Panetta said on Thursday the European Central Bank's easing cycle could accelerate in the next months.

Interest rate cut by the ECB could "accelerate in the next months due to signs of euro zone economy weakness and given the recent Federal Reserve rate cut," Panetta, who is also an ECB board member, was quoted as saying by Radiocor news agency during an event in the southern city of Catania.

(Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by Alberto Chiumento)