The European Central Bank (ECB) is moving towards an interest rate cut as inflation is falling rapidly and approaching the bank's 2% target, Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta said on Monday.

Addressing an event in Rome, Panetta said the inflation trend was making a rate cut "possible."

"The consensus emerging - especially in recent weeks - within the ECB governing council points in this direction," he said.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)