LISBON - The European Central Bank's key interest rate is nearing its peak amid efforts to bring down inflation, unless new external shocks emerge, ECB Governing Council member Mario Centeno said on Friday.

He told a conference that interest rates will rise until the ECB considers that the inflation can be brought down to its medium-term target of 2% as quickly as possible.

"We are on the way to achieving it...but we cannot hesitate in this process" of controlling inflation, he said.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, writing by Andrei Khalip)