Central banks must act in a timely way to halt excess liquidity, a senior European Central Bank official said in the advance release of a newspaper interview Wednesday. "When a central bank stops excess liquidity too late, it must raise interest rates more strongly, and this leads to market turbulence," European Central Bank executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in the advance release of a newspaper interview with Die Zeit weekly. "When the economy begins to grow and there is no danger of recession, negative real interest rates are dangerous," Bini Smaghi said. Real interest rates in many euro-zone countries are considered to be slightly negative, and most economists expect an additional increase in the 2.25% key refinancing minimum bid rate at the ECB governing council's March 2 meeting. The council raised the rate by 25 basis points Dec. 1. Concerns about inflation and monetary distortions were cited as reasons the ECB decided to raise interest rates in December, Bini Smaghi said. On the monetary side, he referred to the real estate markets' rapid housing price developments, money supply and credit demand. "All this has to be considered by a central bank," he said. "Don't forget that we measure all economic and monetary indicators that can point to possible risks for price stability," he said.