(BRUSSELS) - The head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, urged the European Central Bank on Monday to cut its interest rates.

"I do think that the bank has room for manoeuvre," Juncker said as he arrived to chair talks in Brussels between eurozone finance ministers.

"I do think that the bank makes wise use of that room of manoeuvre," he added, in reference to recent interest rate cuts by the Frankfurt-based central bank.

Juncker's appeal comes after European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in Paris on Sunday that he expected the ECB to make a "very clear" move to cut interest rates to counter the economic crisis.

With the spectre of recession looming over Europe, the ECB is widely expected to cut interest rates again at a regular meeting on Thursday in Brussels, with the only open question being by how much.

After eurozone inflation plunged in November to a 14-month low of 2.1 percent, many economists believe that an interest rate reduction of half a percentage point would be the minimum, with a strong chance of a deeper cut.

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